Tangled Up in Blue
by idiot-wind89
Summary: A year after Elijah and Elena's wedding, Klaus and Caroline are reunited by a tragic set of life-changing circumstances. AH/AU (continuation of Heart-Shaped Glasses)
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: I'm back! I hope you are all ready for the part following Heart-Shaped Glasses. Thank you so much for reading and reviewing the prologue. Your enthusiastic response is what motivated me to write this first chapter so quickly. **

**Remember that this takes place about a year after Heart-Shaped Glasses. **

**Tangled Up In Blue is actually a title of a Bob Dylan song which has vague lyrical relevance to this story (you can listen on my tumblr if you're interested my name is idiot-wind) but it was mainly the title that intrigued me. Tangled Up In Blue refers to three main themes or plot points in my story, which may become clearer as the story progresses. **

**As always, thank you to my lovely beta, livingdeadblondegirl for listening to me ramble and sharing her opinions.**

* * *

"Big smiles!" she exclaimed as she gently tickled the little giggling body on the carpet. "I love your smile. You're such a charmer."

_He kicked is feet and fisted his hands in the air excitedly as he started to roll from side to side. _

"You're such a big boy," she cooed as she picked him up and placed him in her lap.

_His first instinct, as usual, was to go for her hair or any necklace she happened to be wearing. _

_First, he tugged on the friendship necklace Elena had bought her. _

_She pulled his hand away. _

"That's not for babies," she mused as she tried to distract him with her hands.

_This lasted for about five seconds, before his wide eyes set upon her hair. _

_Before she could hold him back, or toss her hair behind her shoulders, his tiny fist had a nice chunk of her freshly trimmed hair in its clutches. _

"Ow," she yelped, not expecting him to tug that hard.

_She seemed to startle him and he released his grip. _

_He was looking at her innocently. _

"You hurt me," she said dramatically.

_He laughed. _

"I guess you're big and strong," she said.

_She brushed her hands through his mussed hair that he seemed to have more of everyday. _

"How does it feel?" she teased.

_He laughed some more, and soon she was mimicking his giggles at the sight of his hair sticking up. _

"Elena, come look at this," she called to her friend who was in her walk-in-closet busily trying to fill a small suitcase with clothes.

_She peaked out from the doorway and smirked. _

"He looks adorable," Elena chuckled.

"He has a mini faux-hawk," she declared as she held him up in her lap.

_Elena pulled her phone out from her pants pocket and promptly snapped a photo of the two of them together. _

"Send that photo to me," she requested.

"I can't believe he's already sixth months old," Elena sighed as she played with her phone briefly.

_She nodded in agreement as she set him back down on the area rug in front of her. _

"He looks more and more like his father every day," Elena observed.

_She gave him a once over and shrugged. _

"I think I can see a bit of his mother in him too," she added, smiling at Elena.

"His first name may be Grayson, but he's definitely a Mikaelson," Elena commented as she disappeared back into her closet.

"How much stuff are you packing?" she asked. "You're only going for a weekend," she reminded Elena.

_Elena scowled as she dragged her open suitcase into the bedroom and set it beside Elijah's already packed one. _

"I know," Elena sighed, "but I hate all my clothes, and nothing fits right since being pregnant."

_Grayson rolled towards her and attempted to pull himself back into her lap by her pant leg. _

"You're going to your family cottage for a weekend alone with Elijah to belatedly celebrate your anniversary. I don't think you need to dress like you're on the red carpet," she laughed.

_Grayson tried to mimic her laugh as she helped him into her lap. _

_Elena proceeded to hold a shirt up against her torso as she peered into the tall framed mirror against the wall. _

"I just want to look good," Elena complained.

_She rolled her eyes at her friend's insecurity. _

"Elena, you had a baby six months ago. Don't be so hard on yourself. You look great," she affirmed.

_Elena glanced at her through the mirror incredulously. _

"Besides, the whole objective of this weekend doesn't involve clothes anyways, remember?" she teased as she began to bounce Grayson in her lap.

"That's the plan," Elena huffed, clearly stressed as she tossed the shirt back into her suit case. "This is our first full weekend alone together since before Grayson was born. I fully expect Elijah to get an emergency page at some point," she groaned.

"Don't jinx it," she laughed.

_Elena disappeared into the ensuite bathroom to gather up all her beauty and hygiene products. _

"Things have just been so stressful since I started working again. Especially the weeks I'm on the night shift. I know it's only part time hours but it's still a lot. Between work and Grayson, Elijah and I don't get much time alone together," Elena explained from the other room.

"Well it's not like you had to go back yet. Elijah makes more than enough money," she reminded Elena.

_She could hear Elena scowl as she made faces at Grayson. _

"I don't want to lose my seniority or fall out of practice," Elena explained, "and as much as I love being at home with Grayson, I don't think I could do it every day. I need to work and earn my own money. Plus Grayson needs the opportunity to socialize with other kids and the daycare facility at the hospital is amazing."

"How does he like daycare?" she asked curiously.

_She swatted Grayson's hand away playfully as he tried to grab her hair once more. _

"He seems to be okay with it. The daycare attendants say he's never really fussy. He's a hit with the older kids," Elena told her. "I think I had more separation anxiety than he did."

"And now you're leaving Grayson with me for two nights," she said as she lifted him above her head.

_Elena emerged from the bathroom with her makeup bag with a panicked expression on her face. _

"I haven't been away from Grayson for a day, let alone two," Elena sighed as she kneeled down to finish packing her bag.

_She smiled up at Grayson who was giggling down at her. _

"Grayson and I will be fine. Won't we little mister?" she asked him as she swooped him back into her lap. "You stocked us with the necessities - breast milk and diapers - so we're all good," she laughed.

"It's not you two I'm worried about; it's me," Elena mused, as she zipped her bag shut.

_She shook her head. _

"I'll phone you hourly if you really want me to," she offered jokingly.

"Could you?" Elena asked half seriously and half jokingly.

"No, I refuse to do that," she laughed. "While Grayson and I are watching the latest romantic comedies, you and Elijah are supposed to be creating some romance of your own," she winked. "I will not be Elijah's cock block," she chuckled, covering her mouth guiltily as she looked down at Grayson who was looking back up at her.

"If that's his first word, I will never forgive you," Elena smirked. "And Grayson better not be up all night with you watching movies. His bedtime routine starts at seven o'clock," Elena reminded her as she picked Grayson up from the floor and kissed his nose.

_She rolled her eyes. _

"I know, Elena. I was just joking," she laughed. "I think Grayson and I are going to Skype with Bonnie before I put him to sleep."

"It's been a while since I talked to Bonnie last," Elena commented. "I've been so busy."

_She stood up from the floor and leaned against the foot of Elena and Elijah's bed. _

"Bonnie's been super busy too, between her teaching assistant job and writing her dissertation," she explained.

"And Skyping with Kol," Elena grinned.

_She cringed. _

"Please don't give me a mental picture," she complained.

_Elena shrugged. _

"Kudos to them for making the long distance thing work though," Elena said.

"Yeah, we all know what a disaster it can be, courtesy of my relationship history," she groaned. "I already told Bonnie to tell Kol that if he touches another woman and I find out about it, I'm going to show up on his doorstep in England and kill him myself," she declared.

_Elena gave her an amused but sympathetic look. _

"I think if one of us needs to get laid, it's you," Elena laughed.

_She let her hands fall to her sides in annoyance. _

"Hey," she said defensively. "My bitterness is entirely justified. I don't exactly have the best luck," she argued, "and let's face it, unlike me with you and your sex life with Elijah you're not exactly a champion for my cause. Remember the lab technician from the hospital you tried hooking me up with last summer?"

_Elena winced apologetically. _

"I had no idea he was a virgin," Elena said innocently.

_She sneered at Elena as she approached her and Grayson. _

"I'm tired of caring about sex and dating. It's a waste of my time. Grayson is the only little man I need in my life," she smirked as she poked his tummy.

_He giggled and tried to grab for her hair again. She pulled back before he could. _

"Why doesn't he grab your hair?" she asked Elena.

_Elena shrugged with a laugh. _

"Maybe it's the curls?" Elena suggested. "Or perhaps he has a thing for blondes?" she mused.

"Who knows," she sighed.

"Maybe Elijah could set you up with one of the single doctors?" Elena proposed, wiggling her eyebrows suggestively.

_She rolled her eyes. _

"Most of the doctors at that hospital are ancient and/or they have vaginas," she noted.

_Both she and Elena erupted into laughter and Grayson quickly followed suit. _

"How about instead of focusing on my love life, you concentrate on sexing up your husband this weekend," she said, wiggling her eyebrows like Elena had done to her.

_Elena began to blush and was about to say something when they heard the front door open downstairs. _

"Speaking of," she smirked.

_They left the bedroom to head downstairs. _

"Hello!" Elijah called.

_In the hall, Elijah was there to greet them impeccably dressed as always, in a long black wool coat and suit. _

_He had a paper grocery bag in one hand and a bouquet of roses, similar to the ones Elena had at their wedding, in the other. _

_She watched from the last stair as Elijah kissed Elena and exchanged the bouquet of roses for an excited Grayson. _

"What are these for?" Elena asked about the bouquet while taking the grocery bag.

"Our belated anniversary," he shrugged as he toyed with Grayson's hands.

_Elena grinned. _

_Noticing her on the stair Elijah acknowledged her with a smile. _

"Hey, Caroline," he greeted. "The grocery bag is for you. Elena has rid the house of any and all junk food in an effort to perfect her already perfect figure, so I took the liberty of picking you up some ice cream and a variety of other snack foods for the weekend," he informed her.

"Oh my god, thank you," she sighed appreciatively as she stepped off the final stair. "Elena, it's pretty much settled. You have the best husband ever," she stated.

"Where are you when my wife is displeased with me?" Elijah chuckled.

_She snorted as they all walked into the kitchen. _

"I tell her that she has the best husband all the time, and I also tell her that her body looks amazing," she said, shooting Elena a glare, as Elena put the ice cream in the fridge freezer.

"Maybe she'll listen to you," Elijah thought absently, preoccupied with Grayson.

_Elena rolled her eyes as she began to rummage through one of the cupboards in search of a vase for the roses. _

"How was work?" Elena asked Elijah, changing the subject.

"No surgeries today; paperwork, consultations, and meetings mostly," he revealed.

_Elena brought a newfound vase and the bouquet to the sink where she unwrapped the flowers and placed them inside the vase before filing it with water. _

_She peered inside the grocery bag to inspect what other junk food Elijah had procured for her. Every junk food group was covered; there was chocolate, popcorn, chips, soda, candy, everything. _

"If anyone should be watching their figure it should be single Caroline Forbes over here," she pointed to herself, "but I suppose that can wait until Monday," she shrugged. "You really didn't have to pick this stuff up, Elijah."

_He shrugged. _

"It's the least I could do in lieu of the fact that you've agreed to take care of this little monster all weekend," he said playfully as he looked at Grayson.

"It's no trouble," she shook her head. "Grayson is an angel with me."

_Both Elena and Elijah laughed. _

"He can be a devil when he wants to be, as I'm sure you'll find out at some point this weekend," Elijah grinned. "And speaking of the weekend, we should probably get going soon, Elena. The lake house is nearly a two hour drive away," Elijah commented.

_Elena nodded and looked hesitantly at Grayson. _

"I'm ready to go. The bags are upstairs," Elena told Elijah.

"I'll go get them," Elijah offered, meeting Elena halfway to hand her Grayson.

_Elena kissed Grayson's cheek while she bounced him on her arm. She moved towards the kitchen island and lifted a piece of paper. _

"So I've outlined Grayson's feeding schedule and routine on here. He eats about five to six times a day. He likes his baby cereal in the morning and at lunch and dinner you can give him a serving or two of the baby food I listed. He naps three times a day, but sometimes four. He's been sleeping through the night, but he still wakes up sometimes," Elena explained before turning the paper over. "On the back are a few emergency phone numbers," she added anxiously, pushing the list across the counter towards her.

"I think I got it," she assured Elena.

"Are you ready?" Elijah called from the front hallway.

_They both turned for the front door. _

"Elijah and I will have our phones on at all times, so please don't hesitate to call, text, or leave a voicemail if anything happens or you have a question," Elena said further.

_She nodded obligingly as Elijah took Grayson back from Elena so she could put on her boots and coat. _

"No parties while we're gone," Elijah said to Grayson sternly.

_Grayson mumbled an incoherent reply as he touched Elijah's face. _

_She laughed and awed internally when Elijah gave Grayson a small hug and a kiss on the forehead. _

_With Elena ready, Elijah handed Grayson to her one final time for her to say goodbye. _

"You be a good boy for Auntie Caroline, okay?" she cooed before kissing Grayson's cheek. "Mommy and daddy love you and we'll be back in two days," she reassured him.

_Elena glanced at her. _

"Call me later when you put Grayson to sleep. I want to check-in and say goodnight," Elena told her.

"Of course," she replied.

_Elijah chuckled. _

"I will warn you now that Elena will probably call you incessantly all weekend," Elijah mused.

_She laughed and Elena gave them both a sour expression. _

"Forgive me for being paranoid about leaving my son for two days," Elena said lovingly, nuzzling her face against Grayson's cheek. "We have to go now. I'll see you on Sunday, alright?" Elena murmured to Grayson as she handed him reluctantly to her.

"And if you have to go anywhere, take my car. Grayson's car seat is there. The keys are in the kitchen," Elena informed her.

"Okay," she agreed.

"We should be back Sunday afternoon," Elijah explained.

"Thanks so much for taking a care of him," Elena said.

_Elijah nodded in agreement. _

"I don't think she would have trusted anyone else," he mused gratefully as he opened the front door and stepped out onto the porch.

"No problem," she replied. "Have a good weekend guys."

_Elena blew Grayson a kiss as she stood in the open doorway. _

_She tried to get Grayson to mimic the gesture, but he could only flail his arms. _

"Bye," Elena said with a wave.

"See you on Sunday," she replied.

"Elena, you're letting all the heat out of the house," Elijah chided as he waited for her amusedly.

_Elena rolled her eyes and waved once more to them with smile before she finally closed the door._

* * *

"Hey," she greeted Bonnie and Kol whose faces appeared in separate boxes on her laptop screen.

_She had her laptop set up at the kitchen table with Grayson beside her in his highchair and a bottle of milk. _

_Bonnie waved. _

"There's my favourite nephew," Kol announced as he too waved on the screen.

_She hadn't expected Kol to be joining them and Bonnie during their Skype conversation, but Bonnie had texted her and asked her last minute. He wanted to see Grayson. _

_Kol always managed to find a way to bring up encounters with a certain individual she would rather forget, so she was never keen on talking to him, but Bonnie assured her that he would be on his best behaviour. _

_Grayson shrieked loudly when he saw the faces appear on screen and he slammed his bottle down on the surface of his high chair. _

_He seemed to enjoy seeing the faces and hearing the voices on the screen. _

_Elijah frequently used Skype with Grayson to talk to his siblings. _

"Awe, he's getting so big!" Bonnie cried. "Hi, Grayson," she said, waving once more.

"Elena wants me to put him to sleep in a half hour, so we can't talk long," she warned the both of them.

_Kol scoffed. _

"You're supposed to be the cool aunt that lets him stay up past his bedtime!" Kol cajoled her. "What my brother and Elena don't know won't hurt them."

"I guess I'm not cool," she shrugged.

"Grayson needs his beauty sleep," Bonnie said, rushing to her defence.

_Kol sat up straight and smug. _

"Beauty comes naturally to all Mikaelsons," he said confidently.

_She snorted at his claim. _

"How's he been so far? How long have you been alone with him?" Bonnie inquired.

"Elena and Elijah left about an hour ago. I tried feeding him some carrot baby food but he was not having it," she said, recalling Grayson's stubborn protests when she tried to feed him a spoonful of the orange food.

"But he loves the boob juice," Kol laughed, nodding his head on the screen towards Grayson.

_She looked over at Grayson who was sucking eagerly on his bottle. _

"So Elijah and Elena went to the lake house?" Bonnie asked, making conversation and ignoring Kol's crude humour.

"Yep, they're gone until Sunday," she sighed, already realizing that taking care of Grayson was going to be harder than she thought as some milk dribbled down his chin and onto his bib.

_She wiped the milk up quickly and caught the empty bottle he was just about ready to drop on the floor. _

"They're working on making me another niece or nephew," Kol commentated.

_Both she and Bonnie were shaking their heads. _

"How is school?" she asked.

"Terrible," Kol groaned.

_She had really only meant to ask Bonnie, she thought amusedly. _

"Awful," Bonnie answered.

_She laughed lightly at both responses and gave them a curious look as she pulled a rambunctious Grayson out of his high chair and sat him on her lap. _

"It's nearly midnight here and I'll be up for another few hours grading the elementary school level garbage that these freshmen think qualify as a research paper," Kol complained.

_The idea of Kol Mikaelson grading any of her school work made her wary. She sympathized with his students. _

"I just came back from the library. This dissertation will be the death of me," Bonnie lamented. "I can't wait until graduation."

"Did you tell her the good news though, muffin?" Kol asked Bonnie.

_She tried to contain her smirk at Kol's pet name for Bonnie. _

_Bonnie's face seemed to light up. _

"Kol is coming to New York for the summer," Bonnie announced excitedly.

_Her eyes widened at the news. _

"Ms. Bennett and I are going to be living in sin for four months," Kol mused.

_Things had definitely gotten serious between the two in the past couple months it seemed. _

"Wow, that will be interesting," she commented skeptically, knowing that Bonnie had never lived with any of her previous boyfriends - neither had she.

_Kol shrugged. _

"She really had no choice in the matter. It was either that or nothing. Nik flat out rejected the suggestion that I stay with him," he said casually.

_Just the mention of his name still made her cringe inwardly. Outwardly, however, she played it cool. _

"Elijah and Elena will have to make a trip there with Grayson in the summer for a bit of a family reunion then," she proposed, looking down at Grayson who was trying to reach for her laptop.

"Yeah I've only seen the little guy once in person since he was born," Kol agreed.

"Same," Bonnie replied.

_As though he knew they were talking about him, Grayson's voice echoed loudly as he tried harder to reach the computer screen. _

"Grayson wants to talk too," she laughed.

"He's so adorable. His chocolate eyes and brown hair are to die for," Bonnie gushed. "That's right Grayson, you're adorable," she nodded.

_Kol smiled deviously. _

"Bonnie likes guys with chocolate eyes and dark hair," he chuckled.

_Grayson seemed to nod his head in agreement and they all erupted into laughter. _

"He knows exactly what we're talking about," Kol concluded.

"Has Elena called or texted you yet since leaving? This is their first time leaving Grayson overnight, isn't it?" Bonnie wondered.

"She texted me just before I fed Grayson to check-in," she revealed.

_Bonnie smiled. _

"Awe, I should send her a text," Bonnie said.

_She pointed her finger at the screen as Grayson began to squirm in her lap. _

"Don't bombard Elena with texts all weekend," she urged. "Elena and Elijah are supposed to be enjoying their time alone together."

_Kol snickered knowingly while Bonnie nodded compliantly._

"And making Grayson a brother or sister," Kol added.

_Grayson started to fuss some more and she griped him tighter. _

"Elena just gave birth six months ago, I don't think she wants to be pregnant again anytime soon," she assured Kol.

"I think it will take a little while longer to forget about the nearly day long labour with Grayson," Bonnie mused.

_As she shifted on the chair to try and make her and Grayson more comfortable, his antsy behaviour was soon explained as a foul odour assaulted her nose. _

"Ugh, yuck," she sighed.

_She had been so excited to play with Grayson all weekend that she had forgotten about all the inconvenient and dirty aspects of taking care of a baby - namely diaper changing. _

"What?" Bonnie asked.

"Grayson just filled his diaper, I think," she scowled.

_Kol laughed as her face continued to scrunch up. _

"I think I'm gonna have to cut the conversation short guys," she decided. "There's no way I can sit here with him and his stinky diaper. Plus I don't think he wants to sit here with one either."

"I suppose there are perks to living an ocean away from your nephew; no diaper changing," Kol realized happily.

"It's okay," Bonnie said understandingly. "Maybe we can talk again tomorrow or Sunday," she suggested.

"Bonnie and I need to get on to our private chat anyways," Kol beamed.

_Bonnie glared embarrassingly at her screen. _

"Kol shut up!" she hissed.

_She shook her head. _

"I'll text you, Bonnie," she told her.

_Bonnie nodded. _

"Goodnight, Grayson," Bonnie said.

"Go get that diaper changed kid," Kol said to Grayson.

_Grayson was ignoring her efforts to get him to wave at the screen. At this point the computer was no longer of interest to him and all he wanted to do was get out of her lap. _

"Bye, guys," she said, as she quickly ended their conversation and logged off of the computer.

* * *

_She took Grayson upstairs to his nursery - Jeremy's old room. Selecting a baby blue sleeper with puppies on the front and ensuring all the supplies she needed were in close range, she sat Grayson on the change table and began removing his daytime clothes. _

_Changing his soiled diaper was something she dreaded. She had only had to do it one another time and Elena was there to help her and guide her through it. _

_With all but his diaper removed, she laid him back on the table and reached for a fresh diaper. _

_He was distracted by her necklace as she leaned over him and talked herself up to removing his diaper. _

_She unfastened the diaper tabs and pulled the diaper back cautiously. _

"Oh my god," she murmured under her breath as she plugged her nose; there was poop everywhere. "So gross," she winced.

_She cleaned his front off first with a wipe and covered his genitals with another when she was done, just in case he decided to get any ideas about peeing on her. It had happened to Elena and Elijah on more than one occasion. _

"You're so stinky," she complained, trying hard to breathe through her mouth and not her nose.

_Grayson fussed uncomfortably, clearly just as eager to get out of this situation as she was. _

_Lifting his legs, she removed the messy diaper and cleaned up his backside as fast as she could before securing the fresh diaper. _

_It appeared a little crocked but she gave herself a mental pat on the back for her success. _

"We did it!" she exclaimed victoriously. "Your mommy would be so proud of me."

_Grayson gave her a small smile. _

_Putting him in the sleeper was a breeze after that. _

_With him dressed for bed, she turned on the lamp by the rocking chair and turned off the main light. _

"It's bedtime little mister," she said, sitting in the rocking chair with him on her lap.

_He struggled with her a bit at first, until she pulled her phone out and the glow of the screen captured his interest. _

"Let's call your mommy before you fall asleep," she said as she waited for the call to connect. "They should be there now."

_She was only partially surprised when the phone rang with no answer. _

_Either they were still on the road or perhaps Elena was finally relaxing and enjoying her weekend away. _

"We'll talk to mommy tomorrow," she told him.

_She was surprised when she felt Grayson lean against her chest. _

_His eyes were still open, but his mouth was now preoccupied with his hands. _

_She cursed herself when she realized she had forgotten one of Grayson's books over on the shelf. _

_Not wanting to get up and disturb him just when he seemed to be getting comfortable for sleep, she pulled up a list of nursery rhymes on her phone instead. _

_She spent a good twenty minutes reading through the list more so out of her own nostalgic curiosity than for Grayson. It brought back memories of her childhood from when her own parents used to read her the same stories. _

_When she felt something wet on her sweater, she looked down to find Grayson fast asleep with a generous amount of drool dripping from his pouted lip. _

_She tried to contain her laugh as best she could. _

_Bonnie was more than right about him being adorable. _

_She put down her phone and sat there quietly with him for a few minutes, looking around the room. _

_Jeremy used to try and fight them off in this room when she and Elena would come into his room to steal his toys. _

_It was unbelievable how quickly time passed. Now Elena had this house as her own with Elijah. She had already been married a year and had a son. _

_This was all stuff that had seemed so far off just a few years ago. _

_She supposed it was still far off for her. _

_It didn't bother her that much. She was still young. There were things about being on her own that she liked. She prized her independence. It was hard to even imagine being married or having a baby to take care of now. _

_However, she still wondered what the future held and if she would ever have the family that a part of her longed desperately for. _

_She stood up slowly with Grayson. He stirred drowsily when she placed him into his sleep sack in his crib, but he seemed to lull himself back to sleep. _

_After cleaning off the change table and putting the supplies back in their places, she turned on the baby monitor and Grayson's small giraffe nightlight at the outlet by the door before turning off the brighter lamp and heading downstairs. _

_With the other monitor close by, it was time for her to relax and make something to eat. She was starving. _

_Reminding herself of the junk food Elijah had picked up for her, she opted to make a simple garden salad. She supposed the healthier option would balance itself out with the junk food. Or it would, at the very least, lessen the amount of guilt she had after she ate too much ice cream. _

_She was absently watching some previously aired coverage on the fashion at last month's Academy Awards from the television in the family room as she sat at the dining table and picked through her salad. _

_While she was eating, she made a point of texting both Elijah and Elena to inform them that Grayson was sound asleep now. _

_She almost had a paranoid urge to check on him as she put the baby monitor up to her ear. _

_When she felt good about the amount of salad she consumed, she began collecting the dishes she had used, along with the ones she had used earlier for Grayson. _

_She was filling the sink with water when the doorbell rang. _

_Her first instinct was to ignore it, assuming it was someone for Elijah or Elena, but whoever it was obviously knew someone was here by the fact that the lights were on. _

_She stepped into the hallway cautiously, automatically jumping to the conclusion that it was probably a home invader. _

_As she approached the door, she glanced around for any objects that could be used as weapons if needed. She noticed two umbrellas by the coat rack. _

"It's the Mystic Falls Police Department," a familiar male voice said from the other side.

_The contradictory feelings of relief and panic hit her at the same time as she unlocked the door and opened it. _

"Sheriff Martin," she said, greeting the middle-aged man at the door.

"Caroline," he said flatly.

_She noticed the sheriff's car parked in front of the house, and a silver two-door car that she recognized as Stefan Salvatore's pulling up across the street. _

"How are you?" she asked him anxiously, noticing his blank stare.

_He frowned and looked at her apologetically. _

"What's going on?" she prodded, looking over his shoulder to see Stefan climbing out of his car frantically and crossing the street.

"Do you mind if I come in?" he asked.

_Her chest began to heave as she stepped aside. _

_The sheriff stepped inside followed by a breathless Stefan. _

"What's wrong?" she demanded as she shut the door.

_Sheriff Martin and Stefan exchanged glum looks. _

"It's Elijah and Elena," Stefan sighed.

_Her eyes widened. _

"They were in a car accident on a back road about an hour or so from here; black ice, the officers there say. Their car went off the road and flipped several times. Elijah was taken by helicopter to Mystic Falls General - the closest hospital," the Sheriff said.

_In that moment all she could hear was white noise as panic rushed through her entire body. _

"And Elena? Where's Elena?" she stammered as hot tears began to fill her eyes.

_Stefan shook his head regretfully. _

"Elena didn't make it. She had passed on before the medics got there," the Sheriff said.

_Tears flooded and poured from her eyes as she cried out and broke down. _

_She covered her face and fell back onto the stair as Stefan sat down beside her. _

"No..." she whimpered. "No...I just saw them...this can't happen," she balled.

"When the officers from that county contacted me about the accident and next of kin, I asked them about Grayson. They said there was no sign a baby had been involved in the accident," Sheriff Martin said.

_She glanced up at him. _

"He's here," she sighed, "oh my god, he's here," she said, completely shocked, realizing simultaneously that Grayson was safe, but that he had also lost his mother. "I was watching him for the weekend. Elena and Elijah were heading to the lake house."

_Stefan put a hand on her back in some effort to soothe her, but it was of no use. _

_Her stomach tied into knots and she felt like she needed to be sick. _

_How could this be happening? Hadn't she gone through this enough? Hadn't Elena gone through this enough? _

_Grayson didn't deserve this. _

_She looked at both Stefan and the Sheriff. _

"Elijah? Is he all right?" she wondered as she shot up from the staircase.

"That's why I'm here," Stefan said, "Meredith called me from work and told me he had been admitted," he explained.

"The officers didn't give me many details about his injuries," the Sheriff answered with a shrug.

"Meredith said his injuries were severe...life-threatening," Stefan told her reluctantly. "He might not survive the night."

_She gasped in horror at the possibility that Grayson could lose both parents in one night; that she could lose two of her friends in one night. _

"We need to go to the hospital," she decided. "We need to be there," she stuttered, referring to her and Grayson.

* * *

_She hastily put together a bag for Grayson, not even sure if she packed everything he would need. There were a few small toys, diapers, an extra outfit, a blanket, and a sealed jar of baby food just in case he decided to get hungry. He probably wouldn't eat it anyways, so she fully anticipated a trip back home at some point for the refrigerated milk. _

_He was immediately grumpy when she woke him up from his slumber, having only been put down an hour ago. _

_She dressed him in his green dinosaur winter onesie - the only one she could find without much searching and secured him in his car seat. _

_He had no idea what was going on. He was completely oblivious. _

_Stefan offered to drive them to the hospital. Her hands were shaking. Her entire body was shaking. She was in no condition to drive. _

_The thought of even being in a car after what had just happened made her very uneasy. _

_Stefan parked in the emergency parking lot, despite the threat of a hefty ticket, and after a frustrating few minutes trying to figure out how to detach Grayson's seat from its base, they rushed into the emergency receiving area and waiting room. _

_She took a seat with Grayson while Stefan inquired about Elijah at the front desk. _

"What did they say?!" she asked, standing up from the chair when he returned.

_Appearing frustrated, Stefan shook his head. _

"They didn't have a lot of details. Doctors are trying to stabilize him enough to do some necessary surgeries," he rambled, scanning through his phone. "I told the woman at the front desk who we are. She said we could wait in Elijah's office," he said, holding up a key on Elena's keychain.

_She stood up with Grayson's carrier and the bag she had packed. Waiting in Elijah's office would grant them the privacy they did not have in the busy waiting room. It would be quieter for Grayson. _

_They managed to find their way relatively easily to Elijah's office on the fourth floor. _

_Stefan turned on the desk lamp and she set Grayson down on the floor in his carrier. _

"Meredith must be with Elijah. She hasn't texted me," Stefan said as he leaned against Elijah's desk.

_She nodded as she leaned over the carrier to remove the tight buckle and Grayson's heavy onesie. _

_Standing back up, she glanced curiously around the office, realizing she had never been in it before. _

_Walking around the room quietly, she tried to take her mind off everything. She read the titles of Elijah's medical books on the wall of shelves, she ran her hand over one of the leather chairs, she admired the pristine desk surface that Elijah had left, and then her eyes fell upon two framed photographs. _

_One was of Elena and Elijah on their wedding day. The other was a photo she had taken at Christmas time of Elena, Elijah, and Grayson. _

_Elena was dead and Elijah was barely alive. In one moment their perfect family had been ruined. _

_Her best friend was dead. _

_She started to cry again, stifling her noise with a hand over her mouth. _

_Stefan put a comforting arm around her shoulders and she leaned into him even though he was barely an acquaintance of hers. She only knew him through Elijah and Elena. _

"Elijah's gonna pull through," Stefan tried to assure her, though he himself sounded just as unsure as she felt. "He has to make it."

_She wiped her eyes as she looked down at Grayson. _

_Her mind replayed everything that had happened earlier; her conversation with Elena, what she said to Elijah, when they left. She had just been talking to them a few hours ago. Then her mind drifted to the conversation she had with Bonnie and Kol. _

_Kol, Elijah's brother. _

"Elijah's family...Elena's aunt and uncle...they need to know about this," she realized suddenly.

_She dreaded having to tell any of them the news. _

_Elena was never close to Jenna or John, but they would be devastated to learn that Elena and Elijah had perished much in the same way her parents and brother had. _

"I'll try and get a hold of Klaus," Stefan offered, moving towards the hallway to make the call.

_She didn't even have the numbers of Elena's family to call them. _

_The only person she could contact was Bonnie. _

_She would wait for Stefan to make the first call. _

_When Stefan emerged back in the doorway a few seconds later, she knew he had been unsuccessful._

* * *

_His favourite pub around the corner from his apartment was crawling with the Friday night after-work crowd who decided to stop by for a drink before returning home. _

_This crowd included lots of single women, high strung and stressed women in need of a good fuck. That's why they came here. That's why he came here. They were lying if they said that wasn't the reason. _

_He had managed to entice a rather attractive looking blonde away from her friends or co-workers who were all seated in a booth in the corner. _

_She had come up to the bar, where he was seated, to place an order, and that's when he stopped her. _

_He feigned interest in the smell of her perfume and inquired about it. _

_If he was being honest, he couldn't smell anything at all. _

_She didn't know that though and was immediately flattered by his compliment. _

_So he talked to her some more. He asked her about her job, why she was here, who she was here with, and what neighbourhood of the city she lived in. They were all the routine questions to get her talking and to convince her of his interest. _

_He would only offer to buy her a drink if he thought he was losing her attention. With the way she was rambling on and flirting, however, he didn't think that would be necessary. _

_In another hour or so he was fairly confident that they would be catching a cab back to her apartment. Two hours after that, he was sure he would be catching a cab back to his. _

_They were just getting into the juiciest bit of the completely one-sided conversation - ex-boyfriends - when his phone began to go off. _

_He reached in his pocket for his phone and noticed Stefan's name on the screen. _

_It was Friday night and he was in the middle of sealing a deal. Stefan should know his habits by now. _

_He looked back up at the now annoyed woman. _

"Aren't you going to answer that?" she wondered.

"Nah," he replied, slipping the phone back into his pocket. "You were saying?" he asked, hoping she would pick up where she left off and his hour of progress would not be undone.

_Luckily for him, she did. _

_She was just in the middle of explaining why her last relationship with some bloke named Anthony didn't work out when his phone complained again. _

_He glanced at her apologetically as he growled under his breath. _

_Removing his phone once more, he had full intentions of shutting it completely off, until he noticed the name on the screen; Caroline. He only knew of one. _

_His body tensed as he eyed the screen curiously and debated whether or not to answer. _

_One call from Stefan and one random call from Caroline, five minutes apart. _

_Concluding that it was probably not coincidental, he risked losing his Friday night hook-up and answered. _

"_Caroline?" he asked unsure. _

_As soon as he answered with her name, the face of the woman he was trying to seduce instantly went sour. _

"_Klaus?" a tired, but familiar voice replied. _

_He hadn't heard the sound of her voice in over a year. _

_Trying to convey to the woman he was sitting beside he was still interested without words was of no use. By now he probably seemed like a two-timing asshole thanks to his amateur mistake. _

"_Are you there?" Caroline's voice asked on the other end. _

"_Yeah, I'm here. To what do I owe the unexpectedness of your call?" he inquired, scolding himself as the girl slid off the bar stool and began to collect her purse and her drink. _

_He had lost her. _

_Admitting defeat, he slouched over the bar top with his phone to his ear waiting for Caroline to explain herself. _

"_Um, it's Elena and Elijah. They were in a car accident tonight," she told him shakily. "Elena was killed instantly. Your brother was r__ushed to the hospital here in Mystic Falls," she began to sob. "He might not make it through the night."_

_He felt a terrible sinking feeling in his chest as he tried to process her unbelievable words. _

"_What did you say?" was all he could manage__ as he rubbed his free hand over his face. _

_She was crying lightly on the other end. _

"_Their car hit black ice and went off the road. Elena...died. Elijah is in the hospital," she repeated. "I'm sorry," she whimpered. _

_His nephew was the next thing to cross his mind as this news began to sink in. _

"_Grayson?" he asked, his body going numb as he anticipated the worst. _

"_He's with me," she sighed, "I was taking care of him this weekend." _

_He exhaled, finding the tiniest amount of relief amidst the chaos. _

_There were more questions he wanted to bombard her with, but he knew now wasn't the time. _

"_I'll be in Mystic Falls as soon as I can get a flight," he said, ending the call. _

_He downed his drink and jumped off the stool hurriedly. _

_Placing an unknown amount of cash on the bar top, he grabbed his coat and flew out the door and down the street to his apartment. _

_In his carry-on bag, he packed only a few necessities along with a suit and tie for what he hoped would only be one funeral. _

_He locked up his apartment and hailed a taxi from the curb out front. _

_When he got to the airport, he wasn't even sure which one he was at. He hadn't been paying attention. He simply told the driver to take him to whichever one he could get to the fastest. _

_After paying the fifty dollar cab fare, he walked frantically into the terminal. _

_Unless he waited until tomorrow, he only had one flight option: a first class ticket to Richmond on a plane that was due to leave in an hour. Coupled with the nearly two hour drive to Mystic Falls, he would not arrive there until after midnight. _

_He had no other choice, though. He had to get there as soon as he could and this was the fastest way. So, he put the nearly two thousand dollar plane ticket on his credit card and began the process of going through security. _

_As he waited at the gate for the plane to begin boarding, he searched through his phone and considered calling Kol or Rebekah. It was nearly two in the morning in London now. They would be asleep. _

_He decided it was best to wait until morning. There was nothing they could do now. They probably wouldn't even be able to catch a flight tomorrow anyways, and if they did, it would be a red-eye. _

_His leg shook anxiously as he waited for the boarding announcement. He knew there was no faster way to Mystic Falls than this, but still, he felt like he was wasting time. _

_There was a family sitting in the seats across from his. _

_Inevitably, he thought about Elijah, Elena, and Grayson. Everything in the damn airport reminded him of them. _

_Elena was dead. Grayson had lost his mother and his father was struggling to survive. _

_He covered his hands over his face as he slouched against his knees. _

_Grayson couldn't lose his father too. _

_He couldn't lose his brother. _

_Elijah was everything to him._

* * *

_She had just got off the phone with Bonnie when Stefan appeared in the hall with two coffees in hand. _

_He gave her one and she nodded appreciatively. _

_Her eyes were already beginning to sting from all the tears she had shed. _

_It was nearly ten-thirty. _

"I called Bonnie. She's gonna try and catch a flight tomorrow afternoon after she's made arrangements with the university. I told her to wait to call Kol, in case Klaus wanted to be the one to tell him," she sniffled.

"Klaus texted me when I was down at the cafeteria. He just landed in Richmond. He's picking up a rental car. He should be here by one-thirty," he told her.

_Despite her personal feelings towards Klaus, she was eagerly awaiting his arrival. He needed to be here for his brother. She needed to know that she wasn't alone in this. _

_Sure, she had Stefan and Meredith, but they weren't as close to Elena and Elijah as she and Klaus were. _

_Elijah was Klaus's brother. _

_Klaus was the one who needed to be here to make any decisions that would need to be made. _

"Have you spoken with Meredith at all?" she asked Stefan.

_Stefan shook his head. _

"No, and nobody else seems to know anything," Stefan sighed.

_They spent another hour in the hallway just outside Elijah's open office door as Grayson continued to sleep. _

_As Elijah and Elena's lawyer, there were so many questions she wanted to ask Stefan, but she knew it wasn't the time. _

_Elijah was the main priority at this point. _

_And that's when a dishevelled and solemn looking Meredith stepped off the elevator down the hall. _

_She knew it was bad news instantly. _

_That facial expression was unmistakable and she had seen it one too many times. _

_Stefan approached Meredith questioningly and she shook her head and broke down into tears as she fell against Stefan's chest. _

"He didn't make it," Meredith confirmed.

_She could barely react. She felt like she was comatose, frozen still in some nightmare that she was being forced to watch unfold. _

_Leaning back against the wall for support, she rubbed her hands over her neck to determine if this was still reality. _

"His body couldn't handle all the surgeries. There was too much blood loss," Meredith said vaguely.

_She closed her eyes as she listened to Meredith try and contain her emotion. _

_Feeling like she was intruding on a private moment between Stefan and Meredith, she asked them if they could keep an eye on Grayson for a moment so she could go to the washroom. _

_They agreed readily, as though they understood the amount of pain she was in. They didn't. _

_Once in the private staff washroom she spilled the contents of her stomach into the toilet. _

_Even then, her stomach still felt sick. _

_She splashed warm and then cold water against her face, hoping to feel something from the contrast. She felt nothing; nothing but a clinching and unyielding pain around her heart. _

_How could things change so drastically in a matter of a few hours? _

_This was not the day she expected to have. _

_She should be on Elena and Elijah's sofa eating ice cream and watching stupid romantic comedies, knowing that Grayson was upstairs sound asleep and that Elijah and Elena had reached their destination safely. _

_Why did this happen?_

_Grayson needed his parents. _

_A few stray tears escaped her eyes and it was then that she noticed the black around her eyes from her ruined makeup. _

_After she cleaned up her eyes the best she could, she re-emerged from the washroom and approached Stefan who was now standing alone in the hall. _

"Meredith has some follow-up protocol and paperwork to go through. Do you want me to drive you and Grayson home?" Stefan offered.

_She shook her head as she glanced at the digital clock on the wall. _

"Klaus will be here soon. We should probably just wait," she shrugged.

_Stefan nodded. _

"Can I get you anything?" he asked.

_She shook her head again. _

"Stefan?"

_He raised his eyebrows receptively. _

"What happens now? With everything? With Grayson?" she wondered dropping her hands at her sides.

"Elijah and Elena have a will, they have insurance. Don't worry about it tonight, just focus on Grayson. Tomorrow we'll discuss it," he reassured her. "I'm gonna go grab Meredith a coffee and probably get another one for myself. Do you want anything?" he asked.

"No, it's okay, thanks," she replied.

_It wasn't okay. _

_She stood in the hall absently for a few minutes, watching as Stefan disappeared. _

_This wing of the hospital was entirely quiet since it was made up mostly of offices. _

_She was almost beginning to think that being in the emergency waiting room was preferable to the silence and emptiness. It was eerie and reminded her too much of what she was feeling. _

_The silence was soon interrupted by what sounded like frustrated cries from Grayson. _

_He was wide awake in his carrier and his cries were only growing louder. _

_Waking up in an unfamiliar place had probably confused and distressed him. _

_She bit her lip, suppressing the urge to cry herself as she picked him up. _

_As much as she was grateful for his safety, he reminded her of what they had lost tonight. All she could see in him was Elijah and Elena and it was such a bittersweet thing. _

"Shhh," she hushed him as she walked with him around Elijah's desk to look out the windows.

_He seemed to settle now that he was perched on her forearm and occupied by the town lights of Mystic Falls that they overlooked from the fourth floor. _

_If Grayson was hungry or wanted his diaper changed, he was always the type of baby to make that known right away - at least that's how he had been with Elena. _

_She hoped he could hold off both of those things until they returned home in a bit. _

_When he grabbed her ponytail - which she had put her hair up in purposely earlier in order to deter him - she made no effort to remove his hand. He wasn't being rough. She supposed she could let it slide on this night. _

_The gesture she once found annoying now made her smile. _

_She pulled him in close to her and ran her fingers through his soft hair. _

_Even though he had no idea what had happened tonight, she felt like she needed to reassure him despite her own uncertainty. _

"It's gonna be okay? Alright, little guy?" she said softly. "You're gonna be okay," she told him, attempting to comfort herself just as much as she was trying to comfort him.

_He made a few soft incoherent responses as one hand continued to play in her hair and the other griped her sweater tightly. _

_She stood there with him for awhile even though both her arms were numb from holding him. They stared out the window as she pointed out various places in Mystic Falls that she could recognize despite it being dark. _

_Soon, he was asleep again, and she gave herself another small pat on the back. She had managed to avoid several potential disasters and challenges with him tonight. She'd been lucky. He was being so good. _

_Putting him back in his carrier, he murmured contentedly as she stood up and watched him blankly - trying to concentrate on him and nothing else. _

_When she was certain he'd drifted back to sleep, she returned to the window trying hard not to replay both the recent and distant past in her mind, but failing miserably. _

_That's when she noticed his reflection in the window standing in the doorway behind her. _

_Tears she didn't know she was still capable of slid down her cheeks instantly as she turned around to face him hesitantly. _

"Klaus," her voice cracked.

_She didn't know what to say, but she could tell by the dejected look on his face that he already knew the bad news she wanted to tell him - much like she had with Meredith. _

_Despite everything, she felt relieved to see him. _

_In this moment, the tainted history she shared with him was irrelevant. _

_She didn't feel alone in this anymore. _

_Out of an instinctive need to console him and assuage herself, she approached him determinedly and wrapped her arms around him as she let another crying spell overcome her. _

"Elijah's gone, isn't he?" Klaus breathed.

* * *

**A/N: I warned you the story would open in a tragic way. **

**For those of you who don't already know, my fan-fiction will be loosely based upon the movie, Life As We Know It. **

**What did you think? Do you want to read more? Review me please! **

**P.S. if any of you are talented at making graphics and would like to make some cover art for this, please let me know! I will love you forever. **


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Hey, I'm back with some more. **

**Sorry for the small delay. I would have updated sooner, but after 4x20 I briefly lost my inspiration to write. Plus the early part of this story is depressing and I already had enough depressing disappointment with 4x20, lol. **

**You are all amazing. The last chapter has 84 reviews as I type this author's note! I don't think I've ever received that many reviews for a single chapter before (perhaps the final chapter of Love Interruption). Anyways, thank you so much and I hope you all are still enthused. Please continue to share with me your thoughts, opinions, hopes, dreams, and everything you want in life! Aha**

**Thanks as always to my lovely beta, livingdeadblondegirl. She keeps me focused and my imagination turning...and of course, corrects all my silly errors. **

**Enjoy.**

* * *

_The car rental company at the airport had stuck him with some piece of shit sedan that barely exceeded sixty-five miles an hour. _

_He had made the drive from Mystic Falls to Richmond before and it had never taken as long as it did this time. _

_In reality he had beat the estimated time of two hours, but the road to Mystic Falls had seemed to stretch on forever. _

_When he drove into Mystic Falls, he headed straight for the hospital. _

_Whether or not his brother would make it through the night, Elijah needed him there; his brother needed him there. _

_Elijah was always there for him. _

_He thought back briefly to the time at their house just outside of London when he was about four or five and he sprained his ankle trying to play football with Elijah and Finn. _

_While Finn laughed and taunted him, Elijah rushed into the house to alert their mother and came back out with ice. _

_Elijah had stayed by his side the entire time while they were at the hospital, even though the children's waiting room was equipped with toys and video games. _

_Thinking back, he wasn't even sure how his mother had been able to drive them there since she was never without a glass of wine or vodka in her hand. Perhaps it was their nanny who had driven them, he couldn't remember. _

_What he did remember though was the fact that Elijah was there with him through it all. _

_In hindsight, he supposed it wasn't inconceivable that Elijah would go into the medical profession. It always seemed to be Elijah who had been there to tend to everyone's cuts and scrapes as children. _

_Now the roles were reversed. _

_He wasn't a doctor; he wouldn't be able to fix Elijah's injuries, but at the very least, he owed it to his brother to be by his side to reassure him. _

_He needed to be by Elijah's side to reassure himself. _

_Elijah had always been his rock. _

_The fact that he could lose his brother at any moment terrified the hell out of him. _

_Who would he turn to then? Who would Grayson have? _

_Grayson would be an orphan. _

_It was unnerving to think that what had happened to Elena would happen to Grayson. _

_If there was one thing he could be certain of at the moment, was that Grayson had lost his mother and Elijah had lost his wife. _

_He dreaded having to tell his brother that Elena was dead. _

_While he didn't even pretend to grasp the love of a woman, or understand the kind of bond between a husband and wife who loved one another, he knew that losing Elena would destroy Elijah. _

_Once he arrived at the hospital, he parked in the closest lot he could find, which was probably a staff parking lot that required a permit. If he was ticketed at nearly two in the morning then so be it. _

_An earlier text from Stefan had said that he and Caroline were waiting in Elijah's office for word on Elijah's status. Stefan included the room and floor number. _

_He texted Stefan and let him know he was here. _

_Despite the late hour, the emergency waiting room was bustling with people waiting to be seen by a doctor for whatever ailed them. _

"Can I help you sir?" an older woman, who he assumed to be a triage nurse, asked him suspiciously.

_She had obviously noted the brisk way he walked into the hospital as if he had some less than admirable intention. _

_He was simply determined to get to his brother as soon as he could. _

"Visiting hours are over," she stated.

"I'm here to see a patient, Elijah Mikaelson. He's my brother," he explained.

_The woman seemed familiar with the name. She nodded knowingly and stepped aside._

"Other relatives are waiting in his office," she said.

"I know," he replied, already stepping past her.

"Elevators are to your right and down the hall," she informed him.

_He already knew where the elevators were. This hospital was not an unfamiliar place to him. _

_After what seemed like a two hour elevator ride to the fourth floor, he tore down the hallway, following the ascending numbers to Elijah's office. _

_The hall was dimly lit at this hour and most of the rooms were darkened, so he quickly noticed the faint glow of light seeping out from one of the rooms. _

_Assuming it to be Elijah's office, he slowed his pace and approached the doorway apprehensively. _

_Peering around the corner to look inside, he noticed a baby carrier on the floor. _

_He could just barely see Grayson sound asleep, but the sight was the only brief reprieve he could grant himself in this situation. _

_As he stepped into the entryway fully, that's when he noticed Caroline with her back turned to him, looking out the window. _

_Stefan's absence made him nervous, and Caroline's pained expression reflected to him through the window didn't help ease his mind. _

_She noticed him there quickly, having seen his reflection in the glass. _

_Tears came pouring from her cheeks as she turned almost reluctantly to face him. _

_She was looking at him with a sombre and regretful expression and he tightened his immediately to brace himself for what he felt was about to come. _

"Klaus," she said shakily, but quietly.

_She sounded relieved and devastated all at once. _

_Despite the questionable way he had left things between them last, he felt the same when he saw her. _

_His body tensed completely as she started towards him before wrapping one arm around his waist and the other around his neck. _

_Late to respond, his own hands slowly curled around her back as she broke down against his chest. _

_Her cries were stifled by his coat, but the raw and desperate quality only seemed to affirm his suspicions further. _

"Elijah's gone, isn't he?" he sighed, eyeing the baby carrier over Caroline's shoulder.

_She whimpered a little harder as her fists griped his coat. _

_Letting him go, she pried herself away from him, wiping her eyes with the sleeves of her blue sweater as she sniffled. _

_Dropping her arms from her face, she looked at him straight and nodded, giving him the answer he feared but expected as her eyes went glassy with more tears. _

_He jerked his attention away, staring absently at one Elijah's diplomas hanging proudly on the wall. _

"I'm sorry," Caroline whispered apprehensively.

_Her words went over his head as he lost himself in his own thoughts. _

_He rubbed his palm roughly over his lips as he tried to contain the overwhelming emotion that he felt. _

_His entire life with Elijah began to playback in his mind. The good times, the bad times, the terrible times were all represented. _

_Those memories were what he was left with; nothing more, nothing less. _

_The nothing more part was what stung the most. _

_His jaw clenched and his eyes burned as he thought about those lost memories that would never get the chance to be made. _

_Elijah and Elena were supposed to visit New York with Grayson in the spring. He and Elijah had plans to take Grayson camping in the mountains when he was a bit older. They had plans and now they were ruined. _

_He would never have these memories with his brother. _

_No longer was his brother ever-present. He couldn't just pick up his phone and give his brother a call when he needed to. _

_They wouldn't have their random midnight phone calls. His phone would never sound again with a phone call from Elijah in need of his opinion or with exciting news about Grayson. He could never call Elijah for his advice, and no one else would listen as intently to him as Elijah did when he rambled on about his latest painting or sketch. _

_His next thoughts were spurred by Grayson. _

_He had honestly never heard Elijah so ecstatic than the day that Grayson was born. _

_Both Elijah and Elena had been a ball of nerves in the months leading up to the culmination of a pregnancy that had been very unexpected. _

_Any hesitation from Elijah, however, was very quickly subdued on the early morning of the seventh of September when, after a lengthy labour, Elena gave birth to Grayson. _

_The jubilant phone call he received at two in the morning to inform him of the news was testament to that fact. _

_Elijah had always wanted to be a father. _

_He wanted to be a better father than the one they had growing up as children. _

_Elijah had been more of a father to Grayson in the first six months of his life than their father ever was to them. _

_He did everything he could to be a part of taking care of Grayson short of breastfeeding, he mused. _

_Elijah often spent much of their conversations as of late reciting all the firsts with Grayson he couldn't wait to experience. _

_Now, he would never get the chance to. _

_He bit his lip as the significance of that set in__._

_Elijah had been the best brother to him and he was sure that Elijah would be a great father. Unfortunately, Grayson would never get the opportunity to know that. _

_In an instant, Grayson had lost both his father and mother and everything they had wanted to share with him. _

_He could barely begin to process the fact that the two people who had created a baby that had just been born a few months ago were now gone. _

_Grayson was now the most tangible evidence of Elijah and Elena's existence. _

_He sucked in a breath and ran his hands through his hair as he moved forwards to get a closer look at his nephew, who was fast asleep. _

_The light was dim so he could barely see Grayson's face, but everything about him was Elijah and Elena. His resemblance to them was both comforting and unnerving. _

_This was real, he repeated to himself. _

_Grayson was here in front of him; alone without his parents. _

_As that realization dawned on him further, he could no longer restrain the pain he felt. _

_He exhaled sharply as he felt a hot tear streak his skin. _

_Caroline stepped forward and brushed her hand against his forearm, but he pulled back. _

_He hated being vulnerable and emotional like this, and he didn't like his weaknesses exposed for others to see. _

_So, he turned and walked out into the hallway, hoping it would be less stifling than Elijah's office. _

_It wasn't. _

_Even in the open space, he still found it difficult to breathe. _

_More tears stained his cheeks now that he was alone. _

_In his frustration, he slammed his fist against the cinderblock wall, hoping the pain from the hit would quell the internal desolation he felt. _

_While it distracted him briefly, once the initial agonizing pain in his hand turned to a dull ache, his internal affliction quickly reasserted itself. _

_He rubbed his hands over his eyes as he fell back against the wall in defeat. _

_Letting his head fall to the side, his eyes rested upon the open door to Elijah's office. Elijah's nameplate on the door was glaring back at him. _

_Sighing, his head turned in the other direction when he heard the elevator doors rumble from down the hall as they opened. _

_Both Stefan and Meredith stepped off and started towards him anxiously. _

_He peeled himself away from the wall and brushed his arm over his face in a last ditch effort to compose himself. _

"Hey," Stefan said reservedly. "Did you talk to Caroline?"

_He nodded. _

"Elijah's dead, too," he said, affirming that he heard the news as Stefan pulled him into a hug that he was reluctant to reciprocate.

"I'm so sorry," Stefan said genuinely.

_He broke his friend's attempt to console him rather quickly. _

_Meredith gave him an apologetic look. _

"We tried everything," she said desperately. "There was just too much blood loss. His body couldn't handle the emergency surgeries he needed in order to survive."

_He swallowed his desire to lash out at her. He was looking for someone to blame and she seemed like an easy target, being that at one point she had held Elijah's life in her hands. However, he knew she was not responsible for Elijah's death._

_Caroline appeared in the open doorway, glancing at him cautiously before turning her attention towards Stefan and Meredith. _

"Grayson is awake again," she said, "I think we should head back to the house soon."

"All right," Stefan agreed before looking at him. "I drove Caroline and Grayson here in Elena's car," he explained.

"Do we need to stay here for anything else? Is there paperwork or anything?" Caroline asked Meredith.

_Meredith shook her head. _

"It'll be taken care of. We have all of Elijah and Elena's insurance information here at the hospital. Once funeral plans have been set their bodies will be released to the funeral home," Meredith informed them.

"I want to see Elijah," he stated simply.

_The other three gave him unsure looks. _

"I want to see Elijah's body before I leave," he clarified.

_Meredith hesitated. _

"His body has already been taken to the morgue. I'm not sure it's a good idea," she advised.

"I need to see my brother," he pressed sternly.

_He needed to see Elijah's body. He needed that final confirmation that his brother was truly gone. _

_Stefan and Meredith exchanged conflicted glances with one another before Meredith gave in to his request. _

"Okay," Meredith relented. "I'll take you," she offered.

"Do you want me to come with you?" Stefan asked him.

_He shrugged. _

"We can wait," Caroline said to Stefan.

_Meredith stepped ahead and he followed with Stefan._

* * *

_The journey down to the hospital morgue was a silent one. _

_It's not like he could catch up casually with Stefan as though he was just stopping by Mystic Falls for a visit. _

_If this was another time, he or Stefan would have cracked a dozen jokes by now, or they would be talking about more mundane things. None of that seemed to matter now. _

_At the same time, he almost wished Stefan would talk about something normal - perhaps about the house he and Meredith had recently purchased. He hadn't seen it since they moved._

_It could be a distraction from the new reality he was facing. _

_He could pretend for a few minutes that he wasn't here in Mystic Falls because his brother and his sister-in-law had just been killed in a tragic accident._

_It wasn't something he wanted to deal with. _

_Perhaps if he could forget about it for awhile, he could pretend for awhile that it hadn't happened. _

_He knew it was wishful thinking. That became more obvious as Meredith led them down a wide corridor in the basement of the hospital, passing signs directing them to the morgue. _

_In a few moments he would be face to face with his brother's dead body and then it would become even more apparent why he had returned to the town he grew up in. _

_This was only the beginning. He couldn't even begin to think about the aftermath of the tragedy and everything that would need to be dealt with. _

_Meredith stopped in front of two large doors. _

_She regarded both him and Stefan with apprehension. _

"I just want to warn you that your brother's injuries were serious. He sustained lacerations and bruises to his face. It might be difficult for you to see," she explained. "The rest of his body will be covered."

_He sucked in a breath to prepare himself. _

"I understand," he assured her.

_She nodded before swiping her employee ID against a keypad to the right of the doors. _

_The doors unlocked and she pushed them open. _

_He had never been in a morgue before, but it really didn't differ from how he imagined one might look. _

_It was a sterile, dark, and cold room. _

_A wall of stainless steel doors lined the left wall, and he assumed that both Elena and Elijah's bodies were contained behind two of them. _

_His breathing quickened anxiously and his hands grew clammy at the prospect of viewing his brother in this state. _

_He had seen dead bodies before in his lifetime, but never in a gloomy environment quite like this. None of those bodies had belonged to Elijah, either. _

_Meredith looked over some paperwork on one of the counters as he stood there warily with Stefan behind him. _

_After locating the information she was looking for, she moved in front of one of the doors. _

"Are you sure about this?" she asked skeptically.

_Of course he knew the sight of his dead brother could do him more harm than good, but he needed physical confirmation that his brother was indeed gone. That he was sure of. _

_He nodded his head towards where she was standing expectantly. _

_He stepped closer as she swung open the door and began to slide the body out. _

_There was a tag attached to the male foot and there was a sheet covering the torso. _

_When the body was pulled out all the way, Meredith moved aside so that he could examine the upper body for himself. _

"I'll wait outside," she informed him.

_She disappeared behind him and he heard one of the doors click open and closed. _

"I'll give you some time alone," Stefan said to him, following Meredith.

_He watched Stefan leave before he approached the body carefully. _

_As he inched nearer, Elijah's facial features became instantly recognizable. _

_He faltered a little, biting his tongue as he stopped immediately beside his brother's body. _

_Elijah's face was badly marred but it was him. _

_His eyes glazed over with tears that he was now unapologetic about shedding. _

"Elijah," he breathed shakily.

_He rubbed his hands over his face and then raked them through his hair as he stared down at the surreal sight of his brother. _

_His face was pale and littered with a variety of cuts and scrapes. _

_With Elijah's eyes closed it almost seemed as though he was just unconscious or asleep; if only that were the case. _

_He would give anything for that to be the case. He could even forgive everyone if this all turned out to be some very morbid joke; anything to have his brother back. _

"Christ," he murmured under his breath as his tears continued.

_He couldn't help but chuckle slightly through his sadness. Elijah would be scolding him amusedly for uttering such a curse at a time like this. _

_Suddenly, every memory he shared with Elijah was flashing before him vividly in rapid succession. _

_He could see everything so clear in his mind; him trying to race Elijah with his bike, Elijah reading him his comic books, Elijah teaching him how to drive. He could remember all the times Elijah had defended him, or took the blame for something that wasn't his fault only to spare him from their father's anger._

_A throbbing pain engulfed his body as it hit him for the hundredth time that the person in his memories - whom he loved more than anything - was gone. _

"Brother," he whimpered pathetically.

_He shook his head repeatedly. _

"I'm so sorry, Elijah," he said, even though he wasn't quite sure what he was apologizing for.

_Maybe he was apologizing for not stopping this from happening. Maybe he was apologizing for all their brotherly feuds over the years, or for letting Elijah take the fall with their father when he was younger and weaker. He didn't know, exactly. _

"You can't be gone," he said. "You can't," he denied. "You have a baby; a son who needs you," he sighed, thinking once more about what this would mean for Grayson. "He can't grow up without you."

_He wiped a few wayward tears from his jaw. _

"What am I going to do without you?" he asked. "What should I do?" he wondered aimlessly.

_There was nothing but silence and he laughed at himself for even asking questions he knew would never be answered. _

"I always came to you for advice," he shrugged. "Now, in the darkest hour, when I need you the most, you're no longer here. How ironic," he muttered.

_He looked up at the ceiling and then back down at Elijah. _

_His mind travelled to his younger brother Henrik. _

"I thought watching Henrik die would be the hardest thing I'd ever have to go through," he said under his breath, as he thought about the painful memories he believed to be long since repressed. "I thought wrong, I suppose," he sighed. "I had you then; we had each other. Now, I have no one."

_Sure, there were lots of people around, but he didn't have the same relationship with them as he did Elijah. _

_More tears fell and he wiped his eyes with the sleeve of his coat. _

_This room was suffocating him. _

_He couldn't stand to look at his brother like this anymore. He didn't want to risk tainting the images he had in his head of Elijah as he was when he was alive. _

"I love you, brother," he whispered faintly, before pulling himself away.

_In the hall he found Stefan and Meredith waiting for him on opposite walls. _

_He nodded towards Meredith to signal that he was done. _

"We should probably get Grayson home," Stefan suggested.

"I'm gonna call Kol first. It's nearly seven in London now," he said.

* * *

_She was sitting on the floor with Grayson now, trying to distract them both with a small stuffed bear she had thought to bring for him as they waited for Klaus and Stefan to return. _

_The thought of returning to Elena and Elijah's house was both a welcoming and dreadful thought. _

_Her body felt completely exhausted so she wanted to rest, even though she knew sleep would probably escape her. The anxious and sick feeling she had in her stomach would not let her sleep. There was too much to think about, and too much to worry about. _

_All she could think about at the moment was how devastated Klaus had looked when she confirmed Elijah's death. _

_As much as she her own pain hurt, she was more concerned about everyone else; particularly Klaus._

_She knew Klaus and Elijah were very close. She sensed that there was a deep bond there. She had gathered as much from the weekend of Elijah and Elena's wedding. _

_Now Elijah was gone. _

_Klaus had lost two brothers, she thought, as she recalled Henrik. _

_A knock on the open door startled her from her mind. Dropping the bear, she jerked around to see a professionally dressed woman, likely in her thirties, standing beside an unfamiliar female police officer, similar in age. _

_She picked Grayson up as she stood. _

"Can I help you?" she asked, wondering if perhaps this had something to do with the investigation into Elena and Elijah's car accident.

"I'm Andrea Laine, I'm with Child Protective Services," the first woman said cordially.

_Her body tensed instantly and she held Grayson closer. _

"I am sorry for your loss," the woman continued.

_She nodded cautiously. _

_The woman directed her attention upon Grayson. _

"As a part of routine protocol, authorities informed us that the unfortunate accident orphaned a minor child. Is that Grayson James Mikaelson?" The woman asked.

_She looked at the woman and the officer suspiciously. _

"Yes, this is Grayson," she answered reluctantly.

"And you are?" the woman asked casually.

"Caroline Forbes," she replied, feeling somewhat defensive.

_The woman seemed annoyed. _

"Are you a relative of the Mikaelson's?" the woman inquired.

_She shook her head. _

"No," she hesitated, "Elena - Grayson's mom - is...was my best friend. I was taking care of Grayson for them this weekend," she said, feeling the need to explain or justify herself.

_The woman gave her a contrite smile. _

"I don't want to alarm you, Ms. Forbes, but in an event such as this it's part of the State's protocol to take into custody any orphaned child who is not under the care of a family member until one steps forward or custody arrangements as outlined by a formal will are presented," the woman informed her methodically.

_Her face contorted in frustration. _

"I would politely ask that you surrender the child to CPS, where he will be placed in the best care until one of the aforementioned conditions can be met. If you fail to comply, you will be charged with obstruction of justice for failing to surrender a minor," the police officer said.

_She shook her head as she began to panic. _

_Child Protective Services wasn't going to take Grayson away based upon some stupid technicality. _

_She was perfectly capable of taking care of Grayson until all the formalities were settled. _

"I can assure you that Grayson will be well looked after," the woman urged. "Please don't make this any harder than it has to be."

"Is there a problem?" Klaus asked curiously as he stepped in the doorway with Stefan behind him. "What's going on, Caroline?" he wondered further as he moved into the room past the officer and the CPS worker.

_He stood close, immediately in front of her and Grayson__._

_She exhaled and gave a relieved smile though she was still on the verge of tears. _

_In her panic and confusion she hadn't even thought of Klaus. _

_Stefan remained in the entryway. _

"Child Protective Services," she replied to Klaus, looking to the woman to clarify.

_Klaus's face looked as annoyed as hers. _

"I'm Andrea Laine from Child Protective Services. I was just explaining that because Grayson is an orphaned minor, it's procedure for the State to take custody of him until a relative comes forward or a will detailing a custody arrangement can be presented," the woman explained. "That's why I'm here."

_She heard Klaus growl under his breath. _

"That won't be necessary," he stated firmly. "I am Niklaus Mikaelson, Elijah Mikaelson's brother. Their lawyer," he nodded towards Stefan, "can confirm that. Grayson is staying with us. You're not taking him," he finished determinedly as he folded his arms.

_Both the CPS worker and the police officer looked to Stefan for confirmation of Klaus's story. _

"He is who he says he is. Elijah Mikaelson is his brother. You have no legal authority to take Grayson into the State's custody," Stefan told them.

"I can show you identification to prove it, if you're that concerned," Klaus offered bitterly.

_The CPS worker shook her head apologetically, clearly embarrassed by the situation. _

"My sincerest apologizes," the woman said, "Child Protective Services has nothing but the best of intentions. Ms. Forbes, you should have told us your spouse was a brother to the deceased."

_She tensed and distanced herself a little from Klaus. _

"He's not my spouse," she clarified quickly, adding to the woman's humiliation. "I just wasn't thinking," she said, "given what has happened."

"I am sorry for the misunderstandings and the unnecessary intrusion," the woman apologized.

_She nodded. _

"Are we done here then?" Klaus asked sternly.

"We are done here," the officer replied. "Sorry for any inconvenience. Our condolences," she said curtly, heading out into the hall.

_The CPS worker stopped in front of Stefan. _

"As the lawyer to the deceased, a custody hearing will have to be arranged to grant whoever is listed in the will temporary custody," she told him.

_Stefan looked perturbed by the woman who was seemingly telling him how to do his job. _

"I'm aware of that. As their lawyer, I'll be going over the details of their will tomorrow. Right now, as a friend of the family, I'm still trying to process the loss," Stefan said coldly.

_Put in her place, the woman forced a smile and left with the officer. _

_With that potential crisis averted and Grayson still firmly in her arms, she released another relieved breath. _

"Oh my god," she sighed.

_She couldn't even fathom if Klaus hadn't been here and they had taken Grayson away from her. She would have been completely frantic. _

"You should have called me," Klaus said critically.

"Well I probably would have once I processed what was going on," she said defensively. "They literally got here five minutes before you did."

_Klaus glowered at her and turned his back as Stefan entered the room, cutting the tension thankfully. _

"Let's not worry about it tonight," Stefan said. "Grayson is still here. That's what matters. Tomorrow I'll come by and we'll look over the details of the will," he said reassuringly.

_She nodded at him with an appreciative smile. _

"Are you ready to go?" Stefan asked her.

"Yeah, just let me get Grayson back in his onesie and into his carrier," she said.

_She had to fight with Grayson a little on the floor to get him back into the winter onesie, but after that he seemed to settle into his carrier. _

_Stefan picked up the teddy bear off the ground and handed it to her as she packed up the bag she brought for Grayson and put her own coat back on. _

_He took the bag from her as she put her purse on her shoulder and picked Grayson up. _

"Thanks," she said.

"No problem," Stefan replied, as she turned her attention towards Klaus.

_He was standing at Elijah's desk with his back to them, seemingly in his own world. _

"Are you coming?" she asked him.

_He turned slightly. One of the picture frames was in his hand. _

_Setting the photo down, he turned and followed them out._

* * *

_She and Stefan arrived back at the house first and she was in the process of unbuckling Grayson from his car seat when Klaus pulled into the driveway in his rental car. _

_With Grayson freed and in one of her arms, she swung her purse and the baby bag she took from Stefan over her other shoulder. _

"Do you need any help? You have your hands full," Stefan offered as Klaus climbed out of his car.

_She really did have her hands full and not just in the literal sense. _

"No, it's okay. I'll see you tomorrow," she said as he handed her the keys.

_Walking past Stefan, she left him in the driveway with Klaus, and entered the house through the backdoor. _

_She dropped her things on the floor in the kitchen and was instantly confronted by the sight of the bouquet of roses on the counter. _

_Clear as day, she could picture Elena, only hours ago, filling the vase with water at the sink. _

_The bag of goodies that Elijah had picked up for her was still sitting there too. _

_How could she ever eat any of that junk food again and not think back to this terrible night? _

_Her chest began to swell with emotion. _

_A tug on her ponytail from Grayson made her disregard it. _

_She hoped that despite all the disturbances tonight she would be able to get him back to sleep soon. _

_It was with the hope that she could try and get some sleep before she would have to deal with tomorrow. _

"Let's get you out of this onesie and grab you a bottle," she said to him.

_After his outdoor onesie was removed along with her own coat, she placed him in his highchair so she could prepare him a bottle. _

_It was then that she realized they would have to do something about his feedings. Elena had only left so much breast milk to last them the weekend. She knew Elena also had some frozen, but after that there was no more. _

_Grayson had already expressed his distaste for baby food. They would obviously have to supplement with formula. _

_With the bottle made, she decided to take him upstairs to the nursery to feed him. _

_She heard Stefan's car start out front as she picked Grayson up. _

_It was then that Klaus came through the backdoor with his suitcase in hand. _

_He smelled like a cigarette. _

_She didn't know what to say to him. _

_It was a different dynamic now that Stefan was gone. _

_Given that Klaus was Elijah's brother - and thus somewhat closer to the tragedy than she was - she almost felt like she was overstepping by being here. _

_Who would take care of Grayson if she wasn't here though? Did Klaus know how to change a diaper or prepare a bottle? _

_She knew the awkward silence between them was mostly due to the gravity of the situation they were in, but she knew it had a little to do with their past. _

_The last time they were together the mood between them had been very different to say the least, and afterwards, they were - he was expecting - never to see her again. _

_Now here they were, over a year later, face to face, standing in Elijah and Elena's kitchen with their son in the wake of their deaths._

_She supposed the awkwardness and uncertainty was justified. _

"I'm going to take Grayson upstairs for his bottle and then put him to bed, hopefully," she spoke up, trying to get past her discomfort.

_Klaus gave her a faint smile as he glanced at Grayson. _

_She could see the pain in his eyes._

* * *

_He watched Caroline disappear down the hall with Grayson as he dropped his luggage and removed his jacket, draping it over the chair. _

_Standing there aimlessly as he tried to process this surreal reality, he looked around the kitchen._

_He had only been in this house on two separate occasions, but he knew the liquor was kept in the hutch in the corner. _

_Upon opening the cabinet, his search was rewarded. Inside were various spirits for him to choose from. He had a feeling he would be relying on this cabinet a lot this weekend. _

_He selected the Scotch and began searching the main cabinets for the glasses. _

_With a glass located, he poured himself a drink at the kitchen island and took an eager sip. _

_The alcohol burned his throat a little but it warmed his body. _

_It was then that he noticed the bouquet of roses in front of him. _

_The card sticking out was written in Elijah's hand. It read: 'For my darling, Elena.' _

_His stomach turned with pain and amusement all at once. _

_Tears were in his eyes as a laugh escaped his lips. _

_Elijah had always been sentimental like that. It's how he wooed girls back during his single days. It's how he wooed Elena into marrying him, he thought. It's something he always taunted Elijah for. Elijah had always retorted nonchalantly with a simple: 'It's working for me, isn't it?' Indeed, he supposed it had. _

_He took another long drink from his glass before investigating the brown paper bag. _

_Inside was an assortment of junk food, and if he had any inkling of an appetite he probably would have pursued it further. _

_Beside that was a piece of paper. _

_It was a note from Elena outlining Grayson's typical routine from naps and bedtime to feedings. On the back was a long list of emergency numbers. _

_Both his and Kol's numbers were provided. _

_He shuddered as he thought back to how Kol reacted when he had called him at the hospital and told him the news. _

_Kol didn't believe it at first. He thought it was a hoax. When he realized it wasn't, he went from speechless, to angry, to devastated within a few minutes. _

_It wasn't a phone call he wanted to make. _

_He knew exactly how it felt to receive that particular kind of news. _

_Kol agreed to tell the others, his parents included, thankfully removing the burden from his shoulders. _

_He dreaded the thought of having to see them again, especially under circumstances like these. It was a disaster in the making. _

_By the time he arrived back to Elena and Elijah's house, Kol was already working on getting to the airport to try and catch a flight. _

_He stood there absentmindedly for awhile, sipping on his drink._

_This wasn't how tonight was supposed to go. He was supposed to have picked up that blonde from the pub. He'd be back at his apartment by now showering off her scent or working on some paintings. This Friday night was supposed to be like any other, but it wasn't. _

_He sighed as he glanced around and became lost in the memories of the last time he had been in this kitchen. _

_It was sometime just after Grayson was born. He had decided to visit Elijah and Elena one weekend on a whim to come see his nephew in person for the first time. _

_While both of the new parents were quite obviously overtired, they were both elated. _

_He and Elijah had spent the better part of the night and early morning knocking back drinks in this kitchen, reminiscing about the good childhood memories they had together and talking about Grayson. _

_Sure, he wasn't exactly a baby person, and that was made painfully clear by the awkward way he held Grayson for the first time, but there was something special about Grayson and he realized it then. There was an instant sort of familial affection he had for his nephew. It offered him a small glimpse into the excitement and love Elijah had for Grayson as is son. _

_It was in this kitchen that Elijah had told him that he had never been happier - despite the lack of sleep and the messy diapers. _

_This whole house was a burning reminder of them. They were everywhere. _

_He poured himself another drink when the first was finished. _

_Caroline's unexpected appearance in the kitchen startled him. _

_She was dressed in a long-sleeved shirt and sweatpants, clearly intent upon sleep, something he knew he wouldn't be able to do tonight. _

_The uncomfortable silence continued between them as she crossed the kitchen towards him and picked up the half-empty bottle he had been drinking from. _

_Cradling it in her hand, she leaned against the counter at a safe distance across from him before indulging in a sip. _

_She was looking away from him, but he could tell that she had been crying recently; her eyes were watery and red. _

_He heard her release a long sigh of relief as the alcohol entered her system._

_There was a tension between them, one he couldn't fully explain. _

_He attributed it to the fact that there was not much two grieving people could say to one another to make the other feel better. It seemed hypocritical and intrusive. _

_Like with Stefan, it also seemed insensitive to bring up casual topics of conversation. _

_Despite all this, he knew it had a lot to do with how he had left her last. He assumed they would cross paths in the future at some event related to their mutual interests - Elijah, Elena, and Grayson - he just never expected it would be alone like this where he would be so obviously confronted by her. _

_There were things that had been left unsaid by them; unresolved. He had tried to assure himself that his absence that morning would be met with her indifference, but the expectation she had in her eyes when she told him she wanted him to stay suggested that his absence probably wasn't met with indifference, but disappointment. _

_While he had convinced himself he had done the right thing for himself that night, he knew he had not done right by her. He felt guilty, but he wasn't sure if it was genuine or if it was due to the fact that she was now standing across from him. _

_It almost felt strange that she was here in the first place, but then he couldn't imagine her not here. Elijah may have been his brother, making him most responsible by default for dealing with the aftermath of the tragedy, but Caroline had been present in Elena and Elijah's lives more than he had recently by nature of the fact that she lived so close. He fully acknowledged that Caroline and Elena were like sisters in every way but blood. She should be here. _

_If anything, he almost felt like he was the one who shouldn't be here. Of what use was he? She had been the one who was taking care of Grayson in lieu of his parents' absence. He had really done nothing except brood. _

_He needed her here for that fact. Grayson needed her here. _

_Admittedly, he also knew he wanted her here for the simple fact that he didn't want to be in this museum of memories alone. _

"Is Grayson asleep?" he attempted.

_She looked at him almost surprised to hear him talk. _

"For now," she replied.

_He nodded. _

_Grayson seemed to be a safe neutral topic they could discuss without being insensitive or invasive. _

"Who knows how long he'll sleep for," she sighed, before taking another sip from the bottle.

"Elijah..." he paused as he thought about his brother, "Elijah said he was sleeping through the night."

_She shook her head. _

"He's been disturbed so many times tonight though," she observed regretfully.

_They stood there quietly for a few minutes, as he pondered what to say to her as she took a third and final sip from the bottle before handing it to him. _

"It's good you were here...for Grayson," he offered.

_She shrugged. _

"This is where I'm supposed to be," she concluded effortlessly.

_Her comments made him a little uneasy and insecure, prompting him to question the need for his own presence. _

_He watched her as she went to pick up the baby monitor from the dining table. _

"I'll have the monitor. I'm staying in Elena's old bedroom. I made up the sofa bed in Elijah's office upstairs for you. I didn't think you would want to stay in their room," she informed him.

_He acknowledged her point. Of course he didn't want to stay in Elena and Elijah's bedroom. _

_She stood there in the middle of the kitchen for a moment, her eyes wandering around the kitchen, as though she was suddenly confronted by a memory as he had been earlier. _

_With drawn exhale, she stepped towards the hall, but stopped just shy of it. _

"Klaus?" she said, getting his attention.

_He looked over at her. _

"This is where you're supposed to be, too," she told him.

* * *

**A/N: Soooo what did you think? **

**Next chapter preview: Caroline will be trying to return to her bubbly self who gets things done as a way of coping with her pain and we'll see how Klaus reacts to that. Stefan will be making an appearance to go over the will and detail the sort of unorthodox custody preferences of Elena and Elijah. Expect some interesting reactions from Klaus and Caroline and lots of tension. Some characters from HSG will also be making an appearance. Stay tuned!  
**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: I'm here to give you all a premature update. I cut the original chapter 3 in half (I'm still not done the second part). This is the first part. **

**My fantastic beta, livingdeadblondegirl edited it for me earlier, so here it is. **

**I wanted to give you an update because I'm going out of town on Sunday and I might not be able to get the second part up until I come back, plus the chapter would have ran too long as a single update. **

**Thank you so much for all the amazing reviews for chapter 2, I'm pleased to know interested hasn't waned!**

**Reviews are always encouraged and appreciated.**

* * *

_The sound of a crying baby startled him from his restless slumber. _

_Raising his head, he glanced around the now bright room (he had forgotten to shut the blinds before he went to bed), trying to familiarize himself with his location. _

_When he realized that he was in Elijah's upstairs office, sprawled across a sofa bed, still in his jeans from the night before, he sighed discontentedly. _

_He half expected to wake up back in his New York apartment to find that last night was all just a terrible nightmare. _

_Rolling onto his back, he stared up at the ceiling as he heard footsteps - that he assumed were Caroline's - ascend the stairs to answer Grayson's cries. _

_He couldn't even remember how he made it upstairs the night before. After Caroline went to bed, he polished off the rest of the Scotch all on his own. It was the only way he knew he would be able to sleep. _

_The clock said that it was nearly ten o'clock on the morning. He hadn't gone to bed until at least five; just in time to read a text message from Kol informing him he had managed to snag a nine o'clock flight (London time) to New York. Kol would be in New York by noon (New York time) where he would meet up with Bonnie and hopefully catch a flight into Virginia. _

_He wasn't sure polishing off that bottle of Scotch was worth it for the five hours sleep he received. Not only did he feel exhausted, but he was more than hungover. His mouth was dry, his head was pounding, his entire body was sweating, and his stomach was rumbling with both hunger and sickness. _

_All he wanted to do was pull the blankets over his face and try and sleep the rest of the day away. He didn't even want to think about Elijah and Elena. _

_That was impossible. _

_Even in this room photographs hung. A stray jacket of Elijah's was draped over his office chair. The room smelt like the cologne his brother preferred. Even books on the bookcases triggered thoughts of his brother. _

_Once he stepped foot outside of this room to use the bathroom, scour the kitchen for food and possibly a dose of aspirin, he would be met with more reminders. _

_Grayson would be waiting. Caroline would be waiting. Stefan would be waiting eventually, and later, Bonnie and Kol would be waiting. _

_He just wanted to be alone. _

_Still, he knew he couldn't hide in here forever. _

_Things had to be done, and plans had to be made. _

_Stefan would probably be here soon, he thought. _

_He sat up, swinging his legs over the edge of the bed as he rubbed his eyes. _

_Unfortunately his drunken self hadn't thought to bring his luggage upstairs. _

_He was in desperate need of a shower. He hoped it would clear his mind and shake this brutal hangover. _

_Standing, he stretched and tried to avoid looking at the family photos displayed on one of the bookshelves. _

_He opened the door to find his luggage sitting there propped up against the stair railing. _

_As he picked it up, he could hear Caroline in Grayson's nursery talking to him. _

_The sound of her baby voice amused him briefly before he returned to his makeshift bedroom to grab some clean clothes and remove his suit that he knew he would be wearing in the next day or so. _

_Stepping back out into the hall with his clothes and hygiene items, he headed sluggishly for the main bath. _

_As timing would have it, Caroline and Grayson intercepted him at the top of the stairs. _

_Both Grayson and Caroline were dressed for the day and seemingly content; it was as though nothing had happened. _

_He couldn't help but notice the way her eyes avoided him at first, before settling on his face determinedly. It was then he remembered that he was shirtless. _

"Did Grayson wake you up?" she stammered awkwardly. "He was just getting up from his morning nap."

_He shrugged as Grayson eyed him curiously. _

"Did you bring my luggage upstairs, or did I?" he said, motioning his head back towards his door.

"I did. I figured you would need it," she said, almost too cheerfully.

_He nodded. _

"Stefan is coming over in about an hour or so," she informed him.

"You should have woken me up earlier," he said guiltily.

"Well I assumed by the empty bottle of Scotch I found on the kitchen counter this morning that you'd want to sleep," she explained understandingly.

_He smirked a little before forcing his face to tighten again. _

"I talked to Bonnie this morning," she said. "Kol should be in New York by noon."

"He texted me," he confirmed.

"Bonnie got them a flight to Lynchburg from there. They should be here around dinner if the weather stays clear," she finished.

_Grayson started to whine. _

"This little guy needs a bottle. I was also going to make some late breakfast. Would you be interested?" she asked.

_While his depressed mood urged him to say no, the complaints from his stomach said otherwise. _

"I need to take a shower," he said.

_She shrugged. _

"It will be ready when you're done," she stated without an affirmative verbal response from him before turning for the stairs.

_He stood there for a moment almost dumbfounded. He felt like he was in some sort of dream or parallel universe. _

_His brother and Elena had died in a tragic car accident the night previous. He and Caroline were now temporary guardians of Grayson, and she had just offered to cook them breakfast as though everything was right in the world; that none of it had happened, that none of their history - that had made things awkward last night and now - had happened. _

_Before he could even take a shower, he had to remove a variety of baby bath toys. _

_The shower helped his hangover a little, but did nothing to keep his mind from racing. _

_All he could think about was last night. It was a constant replay in his mind. When he managed to distract himself from that, he was thinking about what would happen over the next few days. There would be a funeral to arrange, his family to deal with, and Grayson to think about. He couldn't even get to the point where he could consider his commitments left behind in New York. _

_Once he was dressed in a clean gray Henley and black jeans he reluctantly trudged downstairs. _

_The smell of bacon hit him instantly and he'd be lying if he said his stomach didn't react. _

_In the kitchen he found Grayson seated at his highchair with a bottle in hand while Caroline was at the island counter putting food on a plate. _

"I hope you don't mind scrambled eggs and toast. There's bacon and fruit, too. I wanted to use it up before..." she stopped mid-sentence, "before it went bad," she told him, having realized that at one point, all the food in this house had been purchased by Elijah or Elena. "Help yourself," she offered as she filled a glass with orange juice. "Coffee is in the pot."

_He nodded as he approached the counter both cautiously and ravenously. _

_His mind felt guilty for being enthused about even a trivial thing like food. He shouldn't be excited about anything right now. That said, his body was screaming to be fed. _

_He couldn't remember the last time someone cooked him breakfast. It was probably the last time he was at Elena and Elijah's. He never stayed long enough at any given woman's house for the question of breakfast to be raised and any other time he was on his own._

_Going for the coffee first, he had an immediate craving for a cigarette, but decided to hold off until he was finished eating. _

_He filled his plate with food and awkwardly took a seat across the table from Grayson and Caroline. _

_They ate quietly as Caroline was busy eyeing a notepad and Grayson was quite content with the bottle in his mouth. _

_The food was delicious and seemed to be almost an instant cure for his hangover. _

"How did you sleep?" she asked him suddenly.

_He wondered why she would even ask him such a question. Wasn't it obvious? _

"Restlessly," he murmured.

_She made eye contact with him and nodded sympathetically. _

"Same," she said, "and by the time I got to sleep, Grayson decided to wake up again at six."

_He swallowed the pang of guilt he felt with some coffee. _

"What's on the paper?" he asked, changing the subject.

"It's just a list of stuff that needs to be done in the next couple of days," she shrugged, "most of it can't be done until we talk to Stefan. Now I'm recording Grayson's feedings and sleep times. He's completely off of Elena's timeline, so I just want to make sure he's getting enough sleep and enough to eat," she informed him.

_He nodded quietly, feeling overwhelmed by her apparent list and planning even though she had barely filled him in on the details. _

"I called Elena's uncle John and her aunt Jenna earlier," she commented.

_He raised his eyebrows questioningly as he continued to eat. _

"They should be in town by tomorrow. We'll probably have to hold the funeral off until Monday," she concluded, making a note in the margin of the notepad before taking a bite of toast.

_Feeling a tension headache begin to overpower his ability to think, he quickly finished the rest of his breakfast. _

_Standing up abruptly, he took his dishes to the sink. _

_It wasn't even close to noon yet and he was already in need of a drink. _

_He began searching the cabinets for the aspirin he was after earlier. _

"What are you looking for?" she asked from the table.

"Aspirin," he groaned helplessly.

"Far cabinet, top shelf," she told him.

_Sighing in relief, he quickly located the bottle and removed two pills. _

_Dry swallowing them both, he decided the next best thing to a drink was a cigarette. _

_Finding his coat on the chair where he'd left it the night previous, he fished for the pack of smokes from his pocket. _

_When he pulled them out, he could feel Caroline's eyes on him instantly. _

_Her eyes were judging him as they travelled between him and Grayson. _

"I'll be back," he muttered under his breath as he slipped on his coat and shoes before escaping out the backdoor.

_The cigarette did little to calm his nerves. _

_He was shaking, but he couldn't tell if it was from stress and anxiety or the cool March wind. _

_Now he really wanted to go back upstairs and crawl into bed. _

_He was still holding onto a lingering hope that if he could just sleep for a few hours that when he woke up all of this would have been a figment of his dark imagination. _

_This was all too much to deal with. He was still trying to comprehend the fact that his brother and his sister-in-law were dead. He didn't want to think about funerals and feeding schedules. _

_Once his parents arrived - whenever that would be - he knew it would only get worse. His mother would try to console him with insincere words that would only make things more difficult. His father would be plain insensitive and cruel. If he had it his way his parents wouldn't even be at the funeral. _

_What right did they have? They were terrible parents. His mother had been cold, and his father had put them down most of their lives. Elijah was no exception. They were never supportive. They hated Elena, and they were only grandparents when it suited them. _

_He put his cigarette out in an empty flower pot on the porch rail and re-entered the house. _

_All the dishes had been cleared and put in the sink and Caroline and Grayson were in the front hall greeting Stefan. _

_His stomach twisted into a knot. _

_He didn't feel like doing this; not now. It was too much all at once. _

_Stefan's presence, with his black briefcase in hand, was only further confirmation that his brother wasn't coming back. _

_He removed his jacket and shoes as Caroline led Stefan into the living room. _

"Hey," he said to Stefan as he appeared at the edge of room hesitantly.

"Can I get you anything?" Caroline asked Stefan politely as she took a seat on the sofa with Grayson in her lap.

"No thanks," Stefan said with a wave of his hand as he pulled up one of the chairs and set his briefcase on the coffee table. "I can't stay long. I have a few other Saturday meetings to get to."

_Stefan looked at him curiously as he stood in the entrance from the family room to the living room; one foot in, the other foot out. _

"You're probably gonna want to sit down," Stefan told him, motioning his head towards the open space on the sofa beside Caroline.

_His stomach clenched with anxiety even though Stefan's words were more of a suggestion than a warning. _

"So I pulled out Elijah and Elena's will this morning. You're both listed as beneficiaries so I made copies for you," he informed them as he opened his briefcase and opened a file.

_Stefan placed one copy on the table in front of Caroline and another in front of him. _

_He didn't even want to look at it. _

"The first page or so can be disregarded as it outlines actions to be taken in the event of only one of their deaths. If you skip to the third page, it details what's to be done in the event of both their deaths," Stefan said solemnly.

_Leaning back against the sofa, distancing himself from the document, he rubbed his face with a sigh. _

"Can you just summarize it for us, mate," he groaned.

"Our immediate concern right now is Grayson and the funeral arrangements," Caroline pointed out.

_Stefan nodded. _

"Elijah and Elena listed you both as executors," Stefan said, "meaning you are responsible for fulfilling their final wishes as outlined in the will."

_He was expecting to be listed as an executor, he and Elijah had already discussed this when Elijah was still single. _

"I went ahead and notified the Kipp Funeral Home and made the arrangements for the bodies to be transferred there. That's the funeral home they selected. According to the will, Elijah and Elena already made some basic arrangements with the funeral home in the event of their deaths, so you should probably contact the funeral home later to go over the details," Stefan informed them. "Elijah and Elena wish to be buried in the Mystic Falls Cemetery in the Gilbert family plot to the left of Elena's parents. Jeremy is buried to their right," Stefan added as he examined his copy of the will.

_His entire body was tense as Stefan discussed all the details. He could feel his eyes glazing over, as pain began to swell in his throat, but he couldn't even cry. This felt too imaginary. _

_Caroline on the other hand had a tissue against her eye as she bounced an amused Grayson on her lap. _

"There are some specific minor personal effects listed that Elena and Elijah wish to go to certain people, but all of their major assets are to go to Grayson - some to be kept in trust, the rest to be put towards his care until he is of age," Stefan explained.

"Who did they list as Grayson's guardian?" he finally asked.

_Stefan arched an eyebrow. _

"Didn't they go over this with you both?" Stefan wondered.

_Caroline shrugged with a confused expression. _

"Elena never even mentioned to me that she and Elijah had made a will," Caroline said.

"What do you mean 'both of us'?" he asked nervously.

_Stefan's eyes widened a little as he glanced back down at the paper. _

"You're both listed here as preferred guardians for Grayson," Stefan stated.

_Caroline let out an audible gasp and he felt the blood drain from his face. _

"They really didn't talk to you about this?" Stefan inquired.

_They both shook their heads in unison. _

_Stefan sighed. _

"Well the will was only drawn up a few months ago. It was likely something that slipped their minds. They probably expected they would have more time to discuss it with you," Stefan said regretfully.

_Both he and Caroline were quiet for a few moments as this new piece of news sunk in. _

_He couldn't believe this. Not only was his name listed in the first place, but it was listed alongside Caroline's. _

"So we're listed together? Like they want us to raise Grayson together?" Caroline stammered.

_Stefan nodded. _

"But we're not together," he interjected as he looked to Caroline and then to Stefan.

"Lots of people raise kids together when they're not together," Stefan pointed out.

_He glowered at Stefan. _

_Caroline's face was a contorted mess of confused emotion. _

"Klaus lives in New York, I live here. How would that even work?" Caroline panicked.

"It's not impossible," Stefan said, "and it's not something you have to figure out and decide upon right now. You'll have to talk it over."

_He grimaced and shook his head dismissively. _

"Is anyone else listed? Are there any other options?" he asked. "What if we don't want this?"

_Caroline's eyes immediately shot him a glare. _

"Well, should neither of you assume guardianship of Grayson, then it would be open to other biological relatives - Elena's uncle or aunt, your siblings, your parents," Stefan explained to him. "If none of them come forward, Grayson will become a ward of the State."

_He looked to Grayson as he began to make drawn out humming sounds through his partially closed lips. _

_Grayson looked back at him and reached his fist out towards him. _

_Wincing, he forced himself to look away as he rubbed his palm over his mouth. _

"Like I said, you don't need to make a decision right away," Stefan assured them. "This is custody of a child we're talking about; a child that you will have to commit the rest of your lives to raising, who, for all intents and purposes, will come to know you as his parents."

_Caroline shifted uncomfortably on the sofa for a moment as she seemed to be struggling to find what she wanted to say or ask. _

"What if one of us wanted to take Grayson on our own?" Caroline wondered.

_His neck snapped around as he gaped at her. _

_He knew exactly what she was implying. _

"Or both?" he added, staring Stefan down for an answer.

_Caroline eyed him suspiciously. _

"Well both of you are listed, so I would just set up a court hearing to grant you temporary custody and that would be it," Stefan shrugged.

"Temporary custody?" Caroline asked.

_Stefan nodded. _

"There's a six month trial period that is usually enacted in cases like these. In the six months, CPS will conduct a series of random house calls and interviews to judge your suitability. If it all goes well and custody is not contested within that time, then at the end of the six months, a judge will grant you permanent custody," Stefan described.

_They both sat there quietly as Stefan flipped over some of the pages awkwardly. _

"Look, I advised Elena and Elijah against listing you both when we drew up the will, but they insisted upon it. Clearly they wanted you both to play a significant role in Grayson's life in the event that they both were unable to. Again, you don't have to make any immediate decisions. Take some time to think about it and discuss it with each other. It's a big responsibility," Stefan said.

_He stared away into the family room distantly as he struggled to digest all the information that was just given to him. _

_Elena and Elijah wanted him to be in Grayson's life. They wanted him to be a father figure to their son in the event that they were no longer here. _

_He felt lightheaded. _

_Stefan put his copy of the will back in the folder and placed it back in his briefcase before snapping it shut. He stood up from his chair and smiled at them both sympathetically. _

"The details of Elena and Elijah's financial information are included with what I gave you. Once you provide the bank with death certificates the bank will freeze the majority of their accounts until you obtain a grant of probate as the executors. However, they did have a payable-on-death account set up and any money in that account will be transferred to you as beneficiaries to handle immediate costs, such as the funeral...lawyer's fees," Stefan said in an effort to inject some humour into the situation.

_He scoffed with a smirk as he stood. _

"I thought you did pro bono work, mate?" he chuckled.

_Stefan shrugged. _

"Keep that to yourself," Stefan winked.

_Caroline stood with Grayson. _

"I hate to leave so soon, but I have another meeting to get to," Stefan said as he headed for the front hall.

_He followed as Caroline leaned in the entryway behind them. _

"Just take a look at the will, think about what I said regarding the custody, and let me know if you have any questions. Once you've made some decisions, we'll go from there. I'll keep you updated on all the legal stuff in the meantime," Stefan finished, as he stood by the door. "Keep me posted on the funeral details," he added.

"We will," he affirmed.

"Thanks for all your help, Stefan," Caroline said.

_Stefan gave him a quick bro hug before nodding towards Caroline and Grayson. _

"Give me a call if you want to talk or meet up," Stefan offered to him as he opened the front door.

"I will," he told him.

_He shut the door as Stefan walked out. _

_Again, he and Caroline were left in the thick of their own awkwardness. _

_She looked at him without a word, as if waiting for him to bring up the new elephant in the room; Elena and Elijah's custody wishes for Grayson. _

_First his brother and sister-in-law die in a horrible accident, and now he's supposed to become an instant father overnight. His entire life was in flux and it was unsettling. _

"I need a cigarette, and then perhaps a drink," he stated, walking by her for the kitchen.

_He heard her scoff from behind him, but he disregarded it. _

_The walls were closing in on him and he could feel it. It was a claustrophobic suffocating feeling. _

_There was an unrelenting weight on his shoulders. _

_He had the immediate urge to detach himself from the situation, so that's what he did. He grabbed his jacket and left the house. It was just after lunch now. He supposed attending the pub wouldn't hurt._

* * *

_Planning to indulge in a few drinks, despite his hangover, he made the fifteen minute walk to the Grill rather than driving. _

_His phone sounded once on the way there. At first, he anticipated it to be Caroline, wondering where he had scampered off to, but it was a text from Kol. He had landed in New York and was waiting for Bonnie to meet him at the airport. _

_There were a few missed calls from Bekah and Finn, but he made no effort to return them. He was in no mood to talk. _

_Not surprisingly, neither of his parents had made an attempt to call him. Then again, he wasn't even sure if they had his cell number to begin with. _

_The bar area of the Grill was virtually empty. Most of the patrons were here for lunch and seated in the dining area. _

_He took a seat on one of the bar chairs and waited for one of the waitresses - the blonde or brunette - to come take his order. _

_The brunette approached. _

"Scotch on the rocks," he practically groaned as he leaned his elbows against the bar surface.

"You're a new face," she observed as she fixed his drink, "a face that's far from home judging by your accent."

_He shrugged. _

"Does it matter?" he asked rudely.

_She shrugged back as she pushed him his drink. _

"Well my brother just bought this place a month or so ago. It's simply good customer service to get to know the people you depend on for business," she stated.

_He eyed her figure appraisingly and noted her nametag. _

"Well...Vicki, expect me to be a very frequent customer," he mused, before taking a swig of his drink.

_She gave him a half-smile. _

"Scotch isn't a very popular lunch-hour drink," she probed.

"Well, love, it's five o'clock somewhere," he smirked, helping himself to more of the amber liquor.

_She laughed and gave him an understanding nod. _

"Do you want to talk about it?" she asked.

_He shook his head. _

"Not particularly," he said glaringly.

"Well, let me know when you need another," she sighed as she started for another customer.

_He lost himself in the sway of her hips for a brief second before returning to his glass guiltily. The last thing he was supposed to be doing was chasing tail when his brother had just died less than a day ago. _

_Grief sex was probably no worse than grief drinking though, he supposed. _

_He kept his head low as he polished off his first drink. Sure, it had been awhile since he lived here last, but he was not in the mood to be recognized, nor was he in the mood to be hounded with sympathy - assuming that news about the accident had travelled around town by now. _

_Vicki had come by once silently, sliding him another drink, which he gratefully accepted. _

_Given that the Grill was the only pub in town, he had become a regular here prior to his departure for New York. _

_He had spent quite some time in this bar back in the day, he reminisced. His twenty-first birthday was spent getting shit-faced at this very bar and then puking everything back up in the alley a few hours later. Elijah had been partially responsible for that. _

_It was a struggle to hold back a smile as he thought about how Elijah openly laughed at him as he spilled his guts out onto the pavement. That had been Elijah's intent all along that night. He denied that he would be puking by the end of the night and Elijah had taken that as a challenge. _

_Of course, by that point none of the girls he had been flirting with wanted anything to do with him._

_If he hadn't been so blitzed that night or hungover the next morning, he probably would have kicked the shit out of Elijah for being so obnoxious. Elijah was the doctor, he was the obnoxious one. _

_He was the obnoxious and free-spirited one, and yet Elena and Elijah decided that they wanted him to be Grayson's guardian...well one of them. _

_Caroline, he thought. He was supposed to raise Grayson with Caroline - a scorned ex-lover who probably wanted nothing to do with him, let alone share custody of a child with him. _

_How could they be parents together? How would the logistics of everything even work? _

_Like Stefan had mentioned, he guessed it was no different than what a separated couple would have to determine. People did it all the time. _

_Admittedly, co-parenting and logistics weren't his only concerns. _

_He glanced around the bar and his mind drifted back to the angel in white he had encountered here in this place two Valentine's Days ago. _

_She had plagued his thoughts every day since he left her. No, she wasn't on his mind all the time, but in the most random moments she would become the centre of his attention. It was frustrating to say the least. Sometimes the thoughts made him feel unbearably guilty and others made him feel unbearably horny. He compared every woman he met to her. Hell, sometimes he had even imagined her while he was fucking them. _

_When he had come to Mystic Falls last September to see Grayson, he had secretly hoped they would cross paths, but they never did, and he made no effort to. He was too chicken shit after how he left things...or left her the previous February. _

_Now when he was trying to do what was best for himself, he was being pushed back in her direction. _

_In spite of the fact that his mind couldn't seem to shake her, he knew that staying away from one another was the best thing for both of them. _

_Staying away from her, however, would be difficult to do if they were going to raise Grayson together. _

_How was he supposed to forget her if she became a big part of Grayson's life? _

_He didn't want to put Grayson in the middle of that. He didn't deserve it. _

_Then again, he was sure his thoughts of her were entirely one-sided. Nothing would come of them because he wouldn't let it, and she certainly wouldn't either. He doubted she thought of him much at all, and if she did, he couldn't imagine the thoughts were pleasant. _

_Who would've thought that after a sort of antagonistic relationship during their formative years, and a brief sexual relationship a year ago, that the both of them would be contemplating their future together with Grayson? _

_Aside from the complicated dynamic with Caroline, Grayson was his foremost concern. _

_If he accepted his role as guardian, his life would change forever. _

_He would have a child that depended on him; a child that he would be responsible for financially, physiologically, emotionally, in every way. _

_He was barely responsible on his own. How could he be responsible for a child? He was far from fatherly material. He didn't exactly have the best role model...but then neither had Elijah. _

_Children were a completely foreign concept to him - especially babies. _

_He took measures to ensure that he wouldn't be in this position, and yet, a backdoor loophole had still seen to it that he would now be confronted with fatherhood. _

_Having children of his own hadn't even entered his mind. While the notion of having a permanent family of his own was a romantic afterthought for the very distant future, he couldn't foresee staying with one woman long enough now for it to ever become a reality. _

_Perhaps taking guardianship of Grayson was a way to avoid all the red tape. It was unconventional, but like Stefan had said, people made it work. _

_He shook his head. _

_How was he even considering this? He didn't know the first thing about raising a baby._

_Moreover, he didn't even want kids at this point in his life. He wasn't even thirty yet. He was in the prime of his life. He didn't want to spend his weekends in changing diapers and reading bedtime stories. He wanted to explore and conquer. There were still places he wanted to see and people he wanted to meet. A baby on his hip was not necessarily conducive to those aspirations. _

_His lifestyle was entirely incompatible with raising a baby. _

_He didn't have a nine-to-five job. His life as an artist compelled him to keep odd hours. He had no stable and consistent source of income. His shoebox apartment offered no space for a growing boy. _

_Not even considering Caroline, how could he make this work? _

_Sweat began to form on his forehead as his anxiety over the whole matter began to grow. _

_He couldn't do this. _

_This was a human life he was considering. This wasn't like he was adopting a puppy. He was certain that he would fail Grayson on some level. _

_The idea of him with a baby was insane and he couldn't figure out Elijah and Elena's reasoning. _

_Moreover, the idea of him and Caroline raising a baby was ludicrous. _

_Grayson deserved better than him. That's why he was Elijah's son and not his. _

_He knew he needed to surrender his rights to custody, but that decision kept slipping through his fingers. _

_How could he not fulfill his brother's final wishes? How could he not at least try? _

_This is what Elijah wanted, or he wouldn't have stated it so in the will. _

_Could he just turn his back on his brother and sister-in-law like that? _

_Surely they had to have known how he would react to the prospect of being Grayson's guardian in the event of their deaths. _

_Had they not considered someone else for the task? _

_Caroline, a small voice reminded him. _

_He downed his second drink and rubbed his neck nervously. _

_Suddenly, the only thing that he could hear was the ceaseless chatter of the other patrons, most notably, children. _

_He shuddered and quickly ordered one more drink from the fiery brunette. _

"So are you going to tell me what brings you to Mystic Falls?" she asked as she poured the drink in front of him.

_She flashed him a flirtatious smirk. _

_Humouring her wouldn't hurt, he supposed. _

"Family matters," he said vaguely.

_She raised an eyebrow. _

"You have family here?" she wondered, obviously confused by his accent.

"I grew up here with my siblings," he revealed, indirectly correcting her assumptions. "My sister-in-law grew up here."

"You're married then?" she asked, a grain of disappointment rolling off her tongue.

_He laughed as he purposely picked the glass up with his left hand _

"No love, my brother is...was," he sighed.

_She nodded understandingly. _

"Divorce? Is that the family matter?" she wondered.

_Now he was beginning to grow annoyed with her intrusive questions. Why had he even bothered? _

"Something like that," he muttered before downing his drink in one final go.

"Who is your brother?" she asked. "Maybe I know him."

_He scowled under his breath as he stood up from the bar chair. _

"Doubtful," he replied.

_She gave him a faint smile and he laughed to himself. It amazed him how pathetic some women were. He had really been nothing but rude to her and yet she was already eating out of the palm of his hand. _

_He reached into his coat pocket for his wallet and laid a few bills out on the counter. _

"Well thanks for the drinks and the idle chit chat," he said with a subtle sarcastic tone.

"See you soon," she grinned.

_Once his back was to her he rolled his eyes with an amused grin. _

_Perhaps his temporary stay in Mystic Falls wouldn't be all doom and gloom after all._

* * *

_She was in the middle of mopping the floor and conducting a phone conversation with the funeral director when Klaus pushed the backdoor open. _

"I'm sorry, can I call you back to confirm the appointment time for tomorrow?" she asked the director as she stared Klaus down.

"_Sure, not a problem," Mr. Kipp, the funeral director assured her. _

"Thanks," she said quickly as she ended the call and ditched the phone on the counter.

_Klaus slipped off his jacket and shoes silently, as though she wasn't even in the room. _

"Where have you been? I've been trying to get a hold of you for the past hour!" she demanded stressfully as she continued to mop the floor.

_He stepped around the table and she held her hand out to stop him. _

"Don't walk there...I just," she protested.

_It was too late. He already stepped across the part she had just cleaned. _

_She sighed under her breath in frustration as she looked at him expectantly. _

"I was out," he said vaguely.

_It wasn't hard to smell the cigarettes and liquor on him. _

"I guess I should have just known to call down to the Grill then if I wanted to talk to you," she said sarcastically.

_He shrugged as he moved past her and went for the cabinet of liquor. _

"Seriously?" she hissed. "I've tried to be understanding and accommodating. I know the pain you're going through because I'm going through it too, but while you were out wallowing, I was wondering where the hell you were so we could make some decisions," she chided him.

_He said nothing. _

"While you were gone I was struggling to put your nephew to sleep, I had to deal with sympathy phone calls from strangers. I had to handle calls from your brother and your parents. I was trying to make arrangements with the funeral director. I've been rushing to get the house cleaned before your brother and Bonnie arrive. I've been taking care of Grayson," she sighed in exasperation. "I'm trying to get all this stuff done, and where were you the entire time?"

_With his back facing her, he removed a bottle from the cabinet and unscrewed the cap. _

_He took a swig as he turned around seemingly unimpressed. _

"I'll deal with Kol and your parents even. I'll make all the funeral arrangements if you don't want to, but I can't do all of that on top of taking care of Grayson," she complained, pointing to Grayson in the playpen in the family room, "all while making sure the house is clean. I need you to help me."

"Just stop!" he spat. "Stop hounding me. Nobody asked you to talk to my brother. Nobody asked you to talk to my parents," he hissed as he slammed the bottle onto the dining table. "Nobody asked you to stress over funeral arrangements and nobody asked you to clean the damn floor," he growled, ripping the mop handle from her hands and tossing it aside.

_His outburst alarmed her, but she knew the place it was coming from. He was hurting; so was she. He needed to get it out._

_She was shaking from anger and sadness. _

"Who's going to if I don't? You?" she said critically with an arched eyebrow and glassy eyes. "Who's going to take care of Grayson? Can you raise a child? You haven't even held him since you got here. You may have been able to run from things that scared you in the past, but you can't do that this time. Not with a baby," she said bitterly. "You can't just leave every time it gets hard."

_She could see Klaus's jaw clench. _

_Grayson started to cry and she looked over at him sympathetically and guiltily. _

"Elijah and Elena certainly aren't here to do any of it now. I know that fact hurts because it hurts me," she stammered emotionally, "but they're dead and we need to face that reality whether we're ready to or not. We need to take responsibility."

_He glanced over at Grayson and took another drink. _

"So what are we supposed to do hmm? Just pretend like nothing happened? Pretend like we're some happy family?" he sneered. "Have you even thought for one second what that would mean?" he demanded. "What Grayson would mean for your career or your personal life?" he specified.

_She scoffed at him and raised her eyebrows. _

"Why are you trying so hard to convince me not to do the right thing?" she retorted furiously.

"I'm not trying to convince you not to do the right thing. I'm just trying to look out for Grayson," he said defensively.

_She rolled her eyes dismissively. _

"I think you're trying to look out for you, Klaus. I think you're trying to look out for what Grayson would mean for your career and your philandering personal life," she snapped.

"No, I'm trying to do what's best for him," he protested, pointing his hand holding the bottle in Grayson's direction, "and we're not it."

_She winced. _

"Then who is? Bonnie and Kol knee deep in student debt and incomplete degrees? Elena's aunt and uncle who she really had no relationship with? Your brother Finn and Sage who already have two kids and live an ocean away? Your parents?" she finished, knowing that mention of his parents would sting the most, even without an explanation.

_Klaus avoided eye contact with her, staring down at the floor. _

_She had a feeling she had affected him more than she had anticipated. _

_His body was trembling. _

"Who else does Grayson have?" she continued. "Because the only two people I see in this house with him right now are you and me," she snapped. "Elijah and Elena loved Grayson more than anything and they picked us to take care of him; they picked us. That may not mean something to you, but it means something to me. Whether you want to honour their wishes or not is your choice, but I've made mine, and I'm not leaving that baby boy," she stated firmly with tears falling from her eyes as she brushed by him for Grayson.

_She picked Grayson up from the playpen. _

"If you don't want to be a part of this, if you don't even want anything to do with the immediate funeral arrangements, then I'll do it all, it's fine, but then don't hang around here moping acting like you have some bigger emotional burden to bear than the rest of us," she muttered as she past him again and brought Grayson into the kitchen, knowing it was probably time for him to be fed again.

_Klaus scoffed in frustration before entering the family room and falling against the couch in defeat._

_Closing her eyes forced a few tears down her cheeks. _

_She said what had to be said. He needed to hear it, she tried to convince herself. _

_There were decisions that needed to be made and neither of them had the luxury now of tuning out. She had tried to be accommodating initially, empathetic to his pain, but she could only extend herself so far. If he was going to be involved, then he needed to be involved. He couldn't dwell on things and shirk his responsibilities._

_She was prepared to take care of Grayson and the house, but she was not going to take care of him, too. _

_Elena and Elijah's deaths had left her just as distraught as him, but the world didn't stop turning because of it, and she knew she had to move forward for her and Grayson's sakes. _

_He would have to move forward too if he was going to honour Elijah and Elena's wishes. _

_If he wasn't prepared to do that, then she'd just prefer him to extract himself from the situation and leave, much like he had with her a year ago. _

"There you go Grayson, just hang on and I'll get you your bottle," she said lowly as she put him in his highchair.

_She scolded herself for even alluding subtly to their weekend together a year ago in her spiel to him. It was a moment of weakness that she had let slip. Her current frustration with him had confounded with the resentful feelings she still harboured against him over that weekend and she used it to lash out. She could only hope he hadn't caught on. She didn't want him to know how he affected her then. She didn't want to be confronted by her naivety any more than she already had been in the last year. _

_That weekend was firmly in her past. She had no right to be upset. She knew exactly what she was getting herself into then. She didn't want to drudge it up again as though she was still hurt by it, but being confronted by him now stirred resentment inside her she thought had been long buried. If she no longer felt slighted by it, then why did she mention it? _

_What if Klaus decided to come around? What if he decided to uphold the whole of Elena and Elijah's wishes and be a part of Grayson's life like she had already committed to? If being confronted by him for a day affected her like this, then how would anything longer impact her? She quickly disregarded her concerns. _

_She would have to get over it. She would put their differences aside for Grayson's sake. She couldn't hold Klaus's presence in Grayson's life against him. He had every right to be here as she did, if he wanted to be. She could learn to befriend him. Oppositely, if she could avoid hating him, she could avoid making the same mistake she had made a year ago. _

_That said, she didn't think she would have to worry about that because Klaus didn't seem the slightest bit interested in fulfilling his obligations set forth in Elena and Elijah's will anyways. _

_His back was to her as he sat on the couch with the television on. _

_She gritted her teeth as her frustration and anger towards him began to grow again. _

_This frustration was only enhanced by the fact that the volume of the television and Grayson's screams were in competition with one another. _

_Her head was pounding. _

_She got Grayson a clean bottle and retrieved the milk from the refrigerator. The only had one more container of Elena's milk left. She would have to make a point of looking up instructions for unthawing frozen breast milk properly. Perhaps she would try the baby food with him again tonight. _

_Grayson's cries continued and she hurriedly poured some milk into the bottle. _

_With it filled and ready, she wanted to let it sit for a minute because Grayson seemed to prefer it at room temperature, but his cries were incessant. _

_She turned with the container of milk to put it back in the fridge and everything from there seemed to go in slow motion. The container hit the bag of goodies she had left untouched and that bag tipped over and fell against the vase of roses, spilling out its contents. She gasped as the glass vase was knocked over onto the counter, pouring water everywhere. The force of the push caused the glass cylinder to roll off the counter, shattering instantly upon impact and scattering the drenched roses. _

"Fuck," she cried, forgetting about a sobbing Grayson in the room.

_He couldn't hear her curse over his cries anyways. _

_Her face went red as the stress of this and everything else seemed to boil over. _

_She could see Klaus jump up from the couch in the family room through her peripheral vision. _

_Uncontrollable tears began to pour from her eyes as she let the weight of everything overwhelm her. _

_She put the milk back in the fridge and crouched down in a panic, trying to reclaim the roses amidst the glass. _

_Klaus was behind her picking up a few wayward junk food items. _

_He knelt down beside her. _

"Caroline, let me help you," he offered. "There's glass all over the floor," he said, brushing his hand against her shoulder.

"Don't touch me," she barked, standing up with some of the roses in hand.

_He followed suit. _

"Just leave it alone," she muttered. "I'll clean it up."

_She picked up the bottle off the counter and brought it to a furious Grayson. _

_He accepted the bottle nonetheless and his cries quickly started to subside. _

_Klaus was busy picking up the remaining roses and placing them on the dry side of the counter. _

"I said I'd do it," she muttered. "I don't need your help."

"But I..."

- "Klaus please, just go," she sighed miserably, wiping a wet hand over her forehead.

_He lingered across from her on the other side of the island for a few moments questioningly, as though he expected to recant her outburst or relent and ask for his help. _

_Her eyes reaffirmed her demands and with that, he finally left the kitchen, returning for the family room. _

_With the roses and the food all picked up, she took a moment to dry her eyes and calm herself before starting on the pieces of glass. _

_Once she was satisfied all the glass had been retrieved and discarded, she used a dry rag from the sink cupboard to soak up the water. _

_She found another vase - a plastic one this time - for the roses and placed them in the corner on the counter by the sink. _

_By the time everything was cleaned up Grayson had nearly polished off his entire bottle. _

_She took a few deep breaths and smiled at him. _

_As long as Grayson's needs were met at the end of the day, that's what mattered. That's what she had to concentrate on. If he was satisfied and happy, then she would be satisfied and happy._

* * *

**A/N: Did Caroline have enough of an effect on Klaus? Will he come around in the next chapter? What will happen when Bonnie and Kol arrive? Expect more of Caroline's perspective on things to be revealed along with Klaus's reaction to their confrontation. Don't worry, there's more Klaroline, too! Stay tuned. **

**In the mean time, let me know what you think so far! **


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Hey there! I'm updating from my motel room because I love you all so much. I've loved reading all your lovely comments. **

**This quick update is also brought to you in part by my amazing beta livingdeadblondegirl! **

**I think a guest reviewer asked me how long this story would be. I intend for it to be shorter than Love Interruption, but I can't say a specific number. **

**Also, I applaud you all for sticking with the story despite the doom and gloom. Klaus and Caroline aren't going to be jumping into bed anytime soon (unlike HSG) so please bear with me, it's going to be a slow build this time. That said, prepare yourself for some serious sexual tension as the slow build progresses. **

**Anyways, here's the next part. I think you'll like the shift that happens.**

* * *

"Come on little mister, let's go upstairs and get you cleaned up. Maybe we'll play for a bit and then you'll be tired enough for me to nap too," she sighed as she removed him from the highchair and took him upstairs.

_It was a relief to be in Grayson's room and away from Klaus. _

_The tension she had partly created was unbearable. It was the last thing she needed amidst everything else she was dealing with. _

_She had a variety of Grayson's toys spread out on the large rug in his room. _

_Sitting against the crib, she left him alone just beside her lap for a few minutes to play on his own. She was curious to see what toys he would go for and how he would play. _

_He shifted on his bum and examined the toys in front of him. _

_She could feel a few bittersweet tears filling her eyes. She was so tired of crying. _

_Watching Grayson had that bittersweet effect on her. From now on, everything that Grayson did, Elena and Elijah would never get the chance to see it or be a part of it. They would never get to hear him say his first word or take his first steps on his own. They would never see him graduate, get married, or have children of his own. _

_She would though. She would see it all, and a part of her would always be thinking about Elena and Elijah. _

_Taking responsibility for Grayson was one of the few decisions she had made in her life without much hesitation. _

_It's what Elena and Elijah wanted, and it's what she wanted to do for them. _

_Only now was she realizing the weight of her decision and its implications. _

_Technically she had become a parent overnight with little preparation. _

_Grayson was hers now, and to anyone who wasn't familiar with her, Grayson was her son. _

_They would be a part of each other's lives forever. _

_She would teach him how to walk, how to read, how to spell his name, how to ride a bike. She would get to plan his birthdays and spoil him with presents, but she knew it would not be all fun and games. _

_She would have to have all those awkward conversations with him about where babies come from and girls. She would have to discipline him for not doing his homework or sneaking out. She would have to figure out a way to explain to him who his real parents were and keep their memory alive. It was a difficult task, and there was little room for error. _

_Though she suspected Klaus's concerns were selfishly motivated, she knew he had a point. _

_Having Grayson would change things for her. _

_Reluctant dreams of returning to New York would be put on the backburner. Her focus now would be to secure enough business here to support Grayson and supplement his inheritance. _

_Grayson would now be her first thought whenever she met a new guy to date. She would have to be even more discriminate than she ever had been before. It was inevitable that being a single mother would probably reduce her options even further, but that wasn't her concern. Her concern was Grayson, and if she found a guy who respected that, then great, if not, then she and Grayson were better off alone. _

_Grayson fell back against her legs with a stuffed puppy in his hands. _

_She looked down at his head in her lap and laughed at his upside down expression. _

_With the dog still in his hands, she pressed its tummy so that it barked. _

_Grayson's ears perked up at the noise as a smile formed on his face. _

_She pressed it again and he giggled out loud. _

"That's a puppy," she said to him. "Puppies go 'ruff ruff,'" she mused as she pressed the button again.

_She pulled him into her lap and held the stuffed puppy out in front of him. _

"Maybe when you're older we can get a real puppy," she thought.

_It sounded like Grayson replied with a 'yes' but she knew it was just his baby blabber. _

_She stroked his hair and kissed the top of his head. _

"We're gonna be okay," she said to him. "Auntie Caroline is gonna take care of you now."

_He reached up for her hair and mumbled more of his baby talk. _

"I love you, Grayson," she smiled, trying hard to contain her glassy eyes.

* * *

_Though his back was turned towards her from the family room as he pretended to watch some show about famous stolen paintings, he listened as she talked to Grayson and removed him from his highchair and he listened as she took him upstairs. _

_He leaned his head back over the couch and stared up at the ceiling with a loud sigh. _

_The sound of her voice startled him again, but as he looked behind the couch, he noticed the baby monitor immediately. _

_He stood and moved towards the tiny speaker. _

_Listening, he heard everything she said. He heard her play with Grayson, he heard her tell him that she loved him; he heard it all. He listened until she eventually put Grayson in his crib and announced to him her exhaustion. _

_By the end of it, he found a small smile on his lips. _

_He leaned against the counter and tightened his expression as he glanced around the house. _

_Their earlier confrontation was on repeat in his mind as he thought about what she said to him. _

_The guilt he felt was overwhelming. _

_She had every right to be pissed at him. He had been a dick. _

_In the past day she had looked after him just as much as she had Grayson and how had he responded in return? _

_He ignored her, he offered her no gratitude, he took advantage, and then he left her here to deal with all of the things he didn't want to face. _

_She made sure he ate, she talked to Kol, she dealt with his parents, she contacted the funeral home, she took care of the house, and she looked after Grayson. She did all of it. _

_While he was retreating into himself and wallowing in his misery, she was facing reality and dealing with what needed to be done. _

_She probably didn't want to do it anymore than he did. Judging by how emotional she appeared, she was in just as much pain as he was. Yet, she was pushing through it, and he was dwelling on it. _

_What choice did she have though? It's not like he had given her one. _

_If they both decided to let their pain consume them then who would take care of Grayson or handle the funeral arrangements? _

_She couldn't take the time to grieve and wallow because he hadn't given her the luxury. She was responsible by default. _

_He thought about Elijah and he hung his head shamefully. If Elijah could see what he was doing, he knew Elijah would be scolding him for letting Caroline pick up all the slack. _

_They had listed both him and Caroline in their will as executors and guardians for a reason. They were supposed to do this together, not alone. That was the point. _

_Caroline had been right about everything. _

_If they weren't going to step up and take responsibility for everything - Grayson included - then who would? Who would raise Elijah and Elena's son? _

_The prospect of Grayson being a ward of the State or given to family who barely knew him unsettled him. The thought of his parents receiving custody of Grayson infuriated him. _

_There was no way in hell he would ever let that happen. _

_Elijah wanted to be the father they never had growing up. _

_He couldn't fathom Grayson being placed in the care of the very person Elijah was referring to. _

_His parents were certainly not what was best for Grayson. _

_As much as he had his reservations about it all, deep down he knew that at the end of the day, he and Caroline were what was best for Grayson, despite their inexperience. _

_Only they loved him nearly as much as Elena and Elijah loved him. _

_For the sake of what was best for Grayson given the circumstances, he had to be here for Grayson. _

_He knew his concerns about taking responsibility for Grayson were nothing compared to the torture he would know if his parents received custody, the guilt he would feel for leaving Caroline to her own devices, and the pain he would feel in the future having not honoured the wishes of his brother. _

_Though he was terrified he would be a horrible parent, he knew he would be letting his brother down right from the start if he didn't even make an effort. _

_He didn't want to let his brother down. He didn't want to let Grayson or Caroline down, but most of all he didn't want to let himself down. _

_Children may not have been something he saw in his future, but he shared the same sentiments as Elijah. If he were to be a father, he didn't want to be his father, and he was on the verge of a self-fulfilling prophecy if he abandoned Grayson now. _

_As long as he did the opposite of what his father did in every situation then perhaps that would be an initial sufficient guide into parenting. _

_He just had to go into it feet first. This was too complicated of a situation to have all the possibilities figured out before you experienced it. There were too many variables for him to have complete control. He had to have confidence that things would work themselves out. _

_Maybe stepping up would distract him from the loss he felt. _

_Regardless, he had to act on his decision. He had to prove to Caroline and Grayson that he wanted to be here in spite of how scared he was. _

_And so he acted. _

_He put away the liquor bottle and called the funeral home to confirm an appointment for tomorrow. _

_After that, he finished cleaning the floor as Caroline had started earlier, tried to put away clutter where he thought it went, and he washed some of Grayson's bottles thoroughly after looking up the proper way on his phone. _

_That's when his real test came. _

_Grayson began to whimper through the monitor. _

_He considered waiting to see if Caroline would respond, but he knew she was probably sleeping upstairs. If he was going to do this, he couldn't always leave Grayson up to her. She wouldn't always be around. Besides, she had let him sleep in earlier, he owed this to her; he owed this to himself. _

_This would be a good time to start with Grayson anyways. With Caroline asleep, the pressure was off. He didn't have to worry about her looming over his shoulder and judging him. That said, the thought of handling Grayson by himself was nerve racking. _

_He had never been on his own with him before. _

_Giving himself a brief internal pep talk, he moved down the hallway and climbed the stairs quietly. _

_The door to Grayson's bedroom was partially open, so he slipped through. The room was darkened due to the blinds being drawn. _

_He found Grayson crying discontentedly on his back in the crib. _

_For a few split seconds he swore he could see Elijah's brown eyes staring back at him. _

"Hey little guy," he whispered.

_Grayson continued to whimper as he extended his hands towards him. He wanted to be picked up. _

_His trepidation about all of this prompted him to hesitate for a moment as he looked down at Grayson. _

_He was worried that he would pick him up or hold him wrong. _

_More than that though, he knew once he did this there would probably be no going back. He wouldn't be able to. _

_Anxiously, he reached down into the crib, tucking one of his hands underneath Grayson's neck and the other under his bottom. _

_Lifting Grayson from the crib, he brought him to his chest and breathed a small sigh of relief. _

_He fully anticipated Grayson to start balling now that he was holding him. _

_However, he could feel Grayson's small body relax as his whimpers slowly began to quiet. _

_They eyed each other cautiously for a few moments. _

_He bounced Grayson lightly in his arms as he walked on eggshells hoping Grayson would stay content. _

"Hey," he repeated in the friendliest tone he could muster.

_Grayson smiled at him. _

_His body tensed in response as goose bumps rose on his skin. He smiled back despite the overwhelming urge to cry. _

_One of Grayson's hands felt the stubble on his jaw as the other griped his shirt. _

_Grayson laughed. _

_He held him tighter. _

_There would be no going back. He knew that undoubtedly. _

_He couldn't let him go now._

* * *

_When she opened her eyes she felt disoriented and confused. _

_She had been dreaming about Elena and Elijah. Even in her dreams it seemed she couldn't escape crying. Her eyes even felt sore and she wondered if she had been crying in her sleep or if it was just from before. _

_Elena's old bedroom was completely dark, which meant was dark outside. _

_The last thing she remembered was lying down for a nap after she put Grayson down for a nap. _

_She shot up in bed and looked around the darkened room as her eyes adjusted. _

_Climbing off the bed, she grabbed her phone to check the time. _

_It was just after six. _

_Her stomach dropped and she burst through the jack and jill bathroom towards Grayson's nursery. _

_His room was black too. _

_Maybe he slept in too? She panicked. _

_Finding the lamp in the darkness, she was surprised to find the crib empty. _

_He obviously couldn't get out on his own she tried to reassure herself. _

"Klaus?" she called warily.

_With a breath stuck in her throat, she rushed out into the hall and barrelled down the stairs. _

_She noticed two suitcases by the front door and could hear laughter as she descended. _

_Bonnie and Kol were on the floor of the living room with Grayson in between. _

_Covering her chest, she let out the air she had been holding in. _

_Bonnie's smile quickly turned to concern as she appeared at the bottom of the stairs. _

"What's wrong?" Bonnie asked.

_She shook her head. _

"Nothing," she breathed with a faint smile. "I just...I put Grayson down for a nap and I went to sleep myself. When I woke up almost four hours later I panicked about Grayson...and he wasn't in his crib," she stammered as she entered the room.

"Awe, well he's right here playing with me and his uncle Kol," Bonnie assured her, bringing her into a hug. "How are you?" Bonnie asked.

_She shrugged and stifled her desire to cry upon seeing Bonnie. _

_Bonnie instantly triggered memories they shared with Elena. _

"I'm okay. Tired, obviously," she mused as she pulled away. "How are you?"

_Bonnie frowned. _

"I'm just in shock. I still can't believe it," Bonnie admitted. "It's even harder to believe now that we're here with Grayson," she added.

"I know what you mean," she agreed.

_She moved around the sofa to greet Kol. _

_Kol stood up and hugged her. _

_There were no 'sorry for your loses' or sympathetic comments. They were all going through the same thing. It didn't need to be said. _

"How was your flight over?" she asked him.

"Long," he groaned. "I'm still on London time. I feel like I should be going to bed soon," he said casually.

_She nodded. _

"When did you guys get here?" she inquired.

_Bonnie sat back down on the rug with Grayson. _

"Only a half hour ago," Kol said.

"Where is Klaus?" she wondered, annoyed by the fact he had seemingly passed Grayson off onto his brother and Bonnie.

_If he went out again she supposed she shouldn't be surprised. What did she expect? He seemed set against this whole thing this afternoon. Maybe she didn't get to him like she thought she had. It was his choice, she reminded herself. If he didn't want to be here, she couldn't make him. _

"He's in the kitchen getting Grayson a bottle and ordering us pizza," Kol informed her as Bonnie gave her a curious look.

"He's getting Grayson a bottle?" she confirmed dumbfounded.

_Before Bonnie or Kol could reply, Klaus appeared from the family room with a bottle in hand. _

_She made suspicious eye contact with him. _

"Give me the bottle, mate, I want to feed him," Kol said, grabbing the bottle from Klaus.

"He's six months old, Kol," Bonnie laughed, "he can hold his own bottle now."

_Kol rolled his eyes as he sat back down on the floor beside Grayson who was eyeing the bottle in his hand with great interest. _

"He must be hungry," Kol laughed as Grayson reached out for the bottle.

_She sat down on the sofa behind the three of them on the floor. _

"How long has he been up for?" she asked Klaus awkwardly.

"A couple hours," Klaus replied, leaning against the entryway between the living room and family room.

_Confused, she looked back down at Grayson. _

_Kol and Bonnie had only just arrived. Klaus had been the one to tend to Grayson while she had been sleeping. _

_She looked over at him questioningly as Bonnie and Kol were preoccupied with Grayson. _

_Why was he helping her now all of a sudden? He seemed to have wanted nothing to do with this a few hours ago. _

_He glanced back at her with an expression she could only describe as apologetic or guilt ridden. _

_Now she would have to wait until they got a moment alone to confront him. _

_She wasn't going to call him out in front of his brother and Bonnie. _

"Who would have thought breast milk would taste so good?" Kol chuckled. "The kid is almost half done the bottle."

_All four of them shared a small chorus of laughter, though it quickly faded as the main reason they had all been brought together in this living room bubbled back to the surface. _

_Kol sighed and leaned back against the sofa. _

"It feels weird being here like this in Elijah and Elena's house," Kol said, "without them."

_Klaus's brother sure had a way of putting things out in the open. It was true though. It's exactly how all of them felt. _

_She noticed Bonnie staring off at a few framed pictures on the fireplace mantel. _

_There were photos of Elena's parents, Jeremy, Grayson, Elijah and Elena when they first started dating. _

_She had tried to ignore them all earlier today, but they were everywhere in the house and completely unavoidable. _

"What did Stefan have to say when you talked to him today?" Kol wondered, cocking his head towards Klaus.

_Kol knew they had talked to Stefan when she spoke with him on the phone earlier. _

_Biting her lip, she turned to Klaus hesitantly, unsure if he wanted her to answer. _

"Klaus and I were listed as executors of the will," she told them.

"Elena and Elijah had most of their funeral arrangements taken care of, but we have an appointment with the director tomorrow morning at ten," Klaus added.

_Her brows furrowed in Klaus's direction. _

"You called him?" she asked, suddenly realizing she had forgotten to call the funeral director back.

_He shrugged and nodded. _

_She turned away and refocused on Grayson who had now discarded his bottle in favour of Bonnie's lap. _

"What did he say about Grayson? Did Elena and Elijah have any custody arrangements in place?" Bonnie questioned as she played with Grayson's hair.

_Now she was even more anxious as she avoided Klaus's general direction as she prepared herself to answer. _

"They listed Caroline and me," Klaus said, interrupting her before she had a chance to respond.

_Bonnie and Kol's faces instantly contorted with confused and sour expressions as they looked between her and Klaus. _

"What?" Bonnie asked. "They listed you both?"

"They listed you at all?" Kol said staring towards Klaus.

_Klaus grimaced in Kol's direction. _

"They listed both of us," she reiterated.

"So they want you to raise Grayson together?" Bonnie continued.

_She shrugged. _

"But you're not together," Kol interjected knowingly, with a semi-amused glare, obviously having thought about their history together.

"No, we're not together..." she started, but the doorbell rang.

"That must be the pizza," Kol said, quickly losing interest in their conversation as he stood up and headed for the front door with Klaus.

_Bonnie was shooting her one of her infamous Bennett glares and her eyes widened helplessly in response. _

_Ignoring Bonnie's critical look, she turned to see Klaus and Kol both chip in for the pizza that had been delivered. There were two large boxes and what appeared to be some additional items in a separate bag. _

_The arrival of the food had seemed to distract from Elena and Elijah's guardianship wishes for Grayson as they all gathered in the kitchen. _

_Bonnie put a sluggish Grayson into his highchair so they could all eat. _

_She grabbed for the necessary dishes, glasses and utensils while Kol and Klaus readied the food for serving. _

_Taking her usual seat beside Grayson, Bonnie sat on her other side. Kol and Klaus sat across from them. _

_The tension was too thick to be ignored and she knew it was only a matter of time as they ate before their last conversation was picked up from where it was left off. _

"Maybe Elijah and Elena just put your names down as an 'either or' preference?" Kol suggested. "I mean, how could you take care of Grayson together?" he asked, still confused.

"I think there was an 'and' specified, not an 'or,'" she pointed out.

"But technically one of you could assume custody on your own," Bonnie noted. "It probably doesn't have to be both of you or none of you."

_She sighed as her appetite began to wane. _

"And that one person would be Caroline," Kol said automatically. "What was Elijah thinking listing you as a guardian?" Kol mused to Klaus.

_Klaus was visibly annoyed by Kol's lack of confidence. _

_Admittedly, she was too a little, although she could not refute Klaus's earlier irresponsibility. _

"We don't have to make any final decisions yet," she explained in an effort to diffuse the situation. "Elena and Elijah listed both our names as guardians, so we should probably see if we can honour that," she stated.

_Bonnie seemed more receptive to this line of reasoning. _

"How would that work though? You and Grayson are in Mystic Falls...Nik, you're in New York," Kol reminded them of something they were all aware of.

"I've decided to stay here for a little while," Klaus told Kol.

_She swallowed a chunk of her pizza prematurely upon hearing his revelation. That was the first she heard of his decision to stay awhile in Mystic Falls. The last time she checked, Grayson wasn't high on his list of priorities. _

"It will give us time to work out an arrangement that works," Klaus reasoned, staring at her from across the table.

_Nodding, she tried her best to look as agreeable as possible as though she and Klaus had already discussed everything. _

"What about work?" Kol continued.

"I have savings," Klaus countered, "and I'm self-employed. The beauty of painting is that I can do it anywhere."

_Kol seemed unconvinced. _

"So when is everyone else arriving?" Klaus asked, quickly changing the subject to something more agreeable.

"There weren't enough seats on a given flight for everyone to come together. Mother, Father, and Rebekah should be here tomorrow afternoon. Sage, Finn, and the kids should be here late tomorrow night," Kol revealed.

_They talked some more about general arrangements and plans for tomorrow. Klaus was mostly quiet and there was no more talk about guardianship of Grayson. _

_However, she knew she was in for an earful when she decided to get Grayson ready for bed and Bonnie offered to help. _

_At about the same time, Klaus went outside for a cigarette and Kol followed him. _

_If Klaus was planning to stay the smoking habit would have to stop, but she supposed nagging him about it now would only alienate him. At least he had the decency to go outside. _

_She took Grayson upstairs to his nursery while Bonnie followed. _

_The first thing Bonnie did was check to ensure the baby monitor was off. _

"What were Elena and Elijah thinking?" Bonnie gasped. "What are you thinking?" she demanded.

_She placed Grayson on the change table and unbuttoned the sleeper she had put him in for his afternoon nap. _

"I don't know what Elena and Elijah were thinking, Bonnie. They never informed me of their guardian wishes for Grayson. The first I heard of it was today when Stefan went over the will with us," she said defensively.

_She grabbed for all the necessary diaper supplies. _

"So you're actually going to try and raise Grayson with Klaus?" Bonnie asked.

_A feeling of relief washed over her when she found that Grayson's diaper was only wet. _

"I'm going to do it with or without his help," she stated, still unsure what Klaus's change in behaviour meant.

"Have you even thought about this?" Bonnie questioned.

_She glared incredulously at Bonnie over her shoulder. _

"Of course I have. I know it's a big deal, but Elena and Elijah wanted me to do it. Who am I to say no to them now? Who would raise Grayson otherwise?" she pointed out. "Do you really think Elena and Elijah want Klaus's parents to have custody of Grayson?"

_Bonnie stood beside her at the change table and eyed Grayson pensively as she went over other possible alternatives and came up blank. _

"What if Klaus wants joint guardianship of Grayson? What will happen then?" Bonnie inquired.

_She shrugged as she tossed Grayson's old diaper away and readied the new one. _

"I don't know. We only just found out about this today. I guess when he decides to go back to New York will work out some shared arrangement," she proposed. "We don't have to make any permanent decisions right now."

_Bonnie frowned. _

"So in the meantime you're just going to live with him here, taking care of Grayson together?" Bonnie wondered.

"I guess. I mean, that would probably be easier than moving Grayson into my apartment. This is his environment. He's used to it here. I could rent out my apartment until we figure out something permanent," she thought aloud.

_Bonnie scowled under her breath. _

"I wasn't really referring to the logistics of it all, as I was referring to the fact that you would be living with Klaus under the same roof," Bonnie clarified.

_She fixed the new diaper in place and began to button Grayson's sleeper back up. _

"It's not that big of a deal," she lied. "We're both here for Grayson. He is our mutual number one concern," she said casually.

_Bonnie arched an eyebrow at her. _

_She picked Grayson up and snuggled him in her arms. _

"So you can just live with Klaus as though it's no big deal; as though that weekend with him never happened?" Bonnie wondered.

"It's not like it hasn't been a little awkward, Bonnie, but my feelings about that don't matter. Grayson is what matters. Besides, I was over that weekend the minute it ended," she stated as confidently as she could.

_Bonnie rolled her eyes. _

"Don't pretend like you weren't a little wrecked that Sunday morning when you found out he left. I know you were. He was an asshole to you. You can't resent the person you're going to co-parent Grayson with, Caroline," Bonnie told her.

"I don't," she said, knowing she was telling a half-truth.

"You can't fall in love with him either," Bonnie added. "You know firsthand how he can be. I just don't want to see you get hurt even worse than before. If he hurts you now, then he hurts Grayson, too," she reminded her.

_She sighed and nodded as she rubbed Grayson's back. _

"I've learned my lesson, Bonnie. Regardless, he deserves a chance with Grayson if he wants it, and he seems to want it. I can't let my petty concerns get in the way of that," she argued. "Grayson needs us both. He needs a male figure in his life."

_Bonnie conceded her point_

"Let's just hope Klaus has learnt his lesson," Bonnie retorted.

_She brought Grayson over to his crib and placed him there on his back. _

_Both she and Bonnie stood there for awhile as they waited for Grayson's eyes to finally close. _

"I can't believe they're gone," Bonnie whispered.

"I still can't believe it either," she seconded. "I just saw them yesterday. I talked to both of them. Now it's like they've just vanished."

"It's just hard to comprehend how two people can exist one day, and then be gone the next," Bonnie murmured. "It's like they were never here."

"But they were," she reminded Bonnie as she pointed down at Grayson. "Grayson, this house, the photographs are all evidence that they were here. Now they're not," she frowned as she caught a few tears with her index fingers.

_Bonnie nodded as she wiped her own eyes. _

"Everything with Klaus will work itself out," she reassured them both, "but I know that no matter what, I have to be here for Grayson."

* * *

_He lit a cigarette for himself and handled Kol one even though he knew he only smoked occasionally. _

_Kol took it acceptingly and placed in between his lips as he waited for him to hand over the lighter. _

_It was a cold night, but the fresh air felt good. _

"You're probably gonna have to quit now that you have a baby to take care of," Kol mused.

_He shrugged. _

"You know how Elijah felt about smoking," Kol said.

_Internally, he couldn't help but wince at Kol's past tense reference to Elijah. _

_He knew Kol had a point about his habit, but he could only make so many drastic and stressful life changes at a time. _

"One thing at a time," he told Kol, taking a long drag from his smoke.

"So you're really gonna do this?" Kol asked him.

_He nodded, still feeling a little reluctant and anxious about the whole thing. Kol's lack of confidence didn't exactly help. He wasn't even going to tell Kol about his earlier argument with Caroline. _

"What's the alternative?" he wondered. "Either Caroline takes care of him alone, or someone else takes him, and the someone else would probably be our parents," he said. "Do you really think Elijah or Elena would have wanted Grayson being raised by them?"

_Kol shook his head in response. _

"Of course not, although I expect that Mother and Father will be in for a shock when they discover that Elijah and Elena chose you and Caroline instead," Kol predicted.

"Well they're delusional if they thought they would even be considered," he concluded.

"You know how they are," Kol reminded him. "You just better be prepared to handle them tomorrow."

_They stood there quietly for a few moments. _

"This is a really big decision to make, Nik," Kol observed. "This is Elijah's son."

"I know," he acknowledged.

"If you do this, you're entire life is going to change," Kol warned. "You're going to have someone else to support. If Caroline is involved you'll have to always consider her opinions. You won't be able to go out whenever you want. Can you handle that? You're not one for kids."

_He shrugged. _

"This isn't just any kid, Kol. You said it yourself; this is Elijah's son. Grayson is our nephew and Elijah wants me to be one of his guardians. After everything Elijah has done for me, how can I not even try to fulfill his wishes?" he asked.

"All I'm saying is that you need to know what you're getting yourself into. If you're not ready to change, then don't do it. You'll only hurt yourself and Grayson in the end. Caroline seems perfectly capable of taking care of him on her own if she needed to," Kol said.

_He glowered at Kol. _

"I'm not just going to put this all on her shoulders and abandon her," he refused.

_Kol scoffed. _

"It's not like you knocked her up or something," Kol countered.

"Well technically speaking we're both now responsible for him," he reasoned.

"You're not still hung up on her are you?

_He stepped forward on the porch and leaned over the rail. _

"I was never hung up on her to begin with," he muttered.

_Kol snorted in disbelief behind him. _

"So that's why you bailed on her that weekend?" Kol retorted.

_He winced and took another drag of his cigarette. _

"You don't know what you're talking about, Kol," he shot back.

"Maybe I don't, but hypothetically let's say you're still hung up on her or could be again, how are you going to live platonically in the same house as her and raise a baby together?" Kol wondered.

"The living arrangement is only temporary," he pointed out. "I don't think it will be an issue."

_Kol laughed incredulously. _

"Whatever you say, brother," Kol groaned leaning over the rail beside him. "I don't know why Elena and Elijah listed you together given your history, but if you let history repeat itself and it blows up in your face, Grayson will be the one who will suffer," Kol warned.

"Don't worry Kol, I think I effectively shut the door on any possibility of history repeating itself a year ago," he mused.

_They finished their smokes and put them out in the same empty flower pot he had earlier. _

"You're sure about this?" Kol asked.

_He shook his head. _

"No, I'm not sure about this. After last night, I'm not sure about anything anymore, really," he paused. "I am sure though that I don't want our parents taking care of Grayson. I am sure I don't want him placed in foster care. I am sure that I don't want to leave everything up to Caroline. I know that I will regret it if I walk away. I need to try and do this for Elijah and Elena, and for Grayson," he concluded. "They wanted me in Grayson's life. I don't think I can turn my back on that."

_Kol stared pensively into the yard as he considered what he said. _

"If you were in my shoes could you just say no?" he asked Kol.

"If it was you or Elijah, I don't suppose I could," Kol said understandingly. "But that doesn't mean I wouldn't be having second thoughts about how everything would work, especially if a past hook-up was also listed as a joint-guardian," he added.

_He exhaled as he tried to understand his brother's concerns. _

"What is most important right now is Grayson," he told Kol, "everything else...the logistics...Caroline...all of that will work out gradually."

_Kol still seemed a little reluctant to believe him. _

_Looking at Kol from the corner of his eye, he swore he could see Elijah; they looked so much alike sometimes. _

_Kol put his hand on his back. _

"For Grayson's sake, you have to make it work, Nik," Kol told him.

_He nodded. _

_Kol's hand dropped from his back. _

"You are right though. Even if you and Caroline raising Grayson together makes almost no sense, it makes the most sense compared to every other alternative," Kol relented, "and it's what Elijah and Elena wanted," he shrugged.

_The fact that Kol was coming around to the idea reassured him a little more. _

_He dug his hands into his pockets and sighed at another mention of them in the past tense. He supposed he would have to get used to that. _

_They stood there silently in each other's company for awhile as he lit another cigarette. _

"What do we do without Elijah?" Kol murmured.

_He winced upon hearing the question. He had asked himself the same thing. _

"I don't know," he said back.

"Elijah was always the one who kept us in line," Kol noted. "Remember when we always used to fight over the PlayStation? Elijah came into the den one time and just ripped the plug out of the wall. We were so pissed at him because we didn't get a chance to save the game that we stopped being mad at each other," Kol chuckled.

_He laughed a little. _

"I don't even remember what game it was," Kol said.

"Tony Hawk, I think, or maybe Final Fantasy or Resident Evil," he recalled.

"I wish we still had that console," Kol mused.

"I think it was Elijah's in the first place," he said.

_Kol nodded in agreement. _

"I'm gonna miss him," Kol admitted, his voice faltering as he became emotional.

"You and me both," he breathed.

"I guess he's with Henrik now. He's with Elena. Elena's with her family," Kol pointed out. "At least they're together."

_He swallowed a painful lump in his throat. _

"I suppose you're right," he said flatly as he struggled to hold back more of his anguish.

"Look, I know you and Elijah had a closer relationship with each other than any of us, but I just want you to know that I'm here," Kol said sympathetically.

"I know," he replied.

* * *

_She lied awake in the darkness of Elena's old bedroom unable to sleep, though it was nearly one o'clock in the morning. _

_It probably had something to do with the extended nap she had taken earlier and all the thoughts running through her head. _

_She was thinking about what Bonnie and Kol had said. She was thinking about the plans for tomorrow and the arrival of Klaus's parents. Mostly she was thinking about Klaus's unexplained change in behaviour and attitude. _

_They hadn't had a chance to talk privately yet since their blow up in the kitchen. _

_When she and Bonnie were done with Grayson, Bonnie helped her sort out some of the details of the will. _

_Klaus and Kol came inside with the intent of searching Elijah and Elena's basement for a video game. _

_She was inclined to feel annoyed at first, because it seemed so trivial, but she couldn't help but notice the enthusiasm on both Klaus and Kol's faces. It prompted her to hold back. This obviously had some meaning to them and it was good to see them positive about something. She hadn't realized just how infectious Klaus's smile was until then. _

_Their search had been futile by the time they returned upstairs from the basement, but they had barely scratched the surface of what was down there. _

_Eventually, she would have the daunting task of going through all of that stuff and deciding what was to be kept, given away, and thrown out. _

_At that point, even though it was still fairly early, they all decided to go to bed. _

_Kol was exhausted with jet lag and Bonnie had barely slept the night before having been up trying to make travel arrangements. _

_She herself hadn't been tired at that point, but knew trying for sleep - however impossible it was - would be best if Grayson was planning on waking up early again. _

_Klaus gave up the bed in Elijah's office to Kol and Bonnie, deciding to stay downstairs on the couch in the family room. _

_That was her current dilemma. She desperately wanted a drink of warm milk, or a snack to induce sleep, but she didn't want to risk another confrontation with Klaus at this hour. _

_She laid there for another hour or so, falling in and out of sleep, when she was fully awakened by the sound of Grayson's piercing cries into the monitor. _

_Sighing, she got out of bed quickly, eager not to wake Bonnie or Kol. _

_Grayson was sitting up in his crib balling. _

_She thought Elena said Grayson was sleeping through the night. _

_Coming into his room every time he cried probably wasn't encouraging any good habits for the future, but her heart wouldn't let him try to self soothe and she was sure Bonnie and Kol didn't want to be disturbed. _

_She shut the door to his nursery to block out the noise as she rubbed his back and tried calm him down, but he still cried - and loudly too. _

_When she felt around his diaper and lifted him up higher to smell, the tell tale signs of a dirty diaper were there. _

_She supposed she would be freaking out too if the roles were reversed. _

_Turning for the change table, Klaus's presence in the doorway to the nursery surprised her. _

"Oh my god," she said as she sucked in a startled breath and clenched Grayson tighter. "You scared me," she said as she set Grayson on the table.

"Sorry," he said. "I heard Grayson screaming."

"Well if he woke you up downstairs, then he's probably woken Bonnie and Kol, too," she observed casually as she removed Grayson's yellow sleeper with monkeys on it.

_Klaus stepped into the room and partially shut the door behind him. _

_She tried not to tense. _

_Grayson's cries seemed to dull as though he knew what she was about to do. _

"I wasn't sleeping," he revealed.

"Oh," she replied as she prepared the arsenal of supplies she had come to rely on.

_A few awkward seconds passed before she decided to speak up and test how certain he was about helping with Grayson. _

"Do you want to change him?" she suggested.

_She noted the reluctant expression on his face and she was ready to be disappointed. _

"I don't know how," he admitted. "I guess I got lucky this afternoon," he said, referring to the fact that he hadn't had to change a diaper yet.

"I'll show you," she offered, waiting quietly for his reply.

_He stepped beside her and looked down at Grayson anxiously. _

_She handed him a wipe and instructed him to clean and dry his hands. _

"Undo the tabs, but don't remove the diaper yet and make sure that the tabs don't stick to his skin," she said and Klaus followed her words.

_Klaus's face contorted at the smell. _

_She smirked. _

"When you go to remove the diaper, try to take as much poop with it," she said.

_He started to pull back the diaper and she promptly covered Grayson's penis with a cloth. _

"I have one of my own, you don't need to cover it," he chuckled.

_She blushed and laughed lightly. _

"I'm covering it for sanitary reasons, but mostly so you don't get sprayed," she clarified.

_A horrified look of realization crossed Klaus's features. _

"When you do it on your own, you'll have to do both things at once," she told him. "Now lift him up by the ankles and fold the diaper underneath him."

_She felt bad for Klaus because this was the messiest she had seen Grayson's diaper this weekend, but he managed to do as she asked him. _

_He was still holding Grayson's bottom up by his ankles awkwardly as he awaited her next instruction. _

"You can let him back down now," she mused.

_She handed him a few wipes. _

"Clean his front first," she instructed as she lifted the cloth up a little for him to gain access.

_Klaus hesitated at first, but he was soon following her instruction, wiping his front gently. _

"Now lift his legs again to clean his bottom," she continued.

_The disgusted look on Klaus's face amused her as he tried to hold onto a fussy Grayson while he wiped away the remainder of the poop. _

"Remove the folded diaper and swap in the new one," she told him as he tossed the soiled wipes into the trash.

_She showed him what end of the diaper went where and he quickly put it into position. _

"Good," she encouraged. "Now all you have to do is fasten it," she concluded as she re-taped the old diaper and put it in the garbage.

_He sighed in relief upon completion, and she was sure she heard Grayson do the same. _

_Without even having to ask him to, he took it upon himself to try and button back together the sleeper she had unbuttoned Grayson's lower half out of. _

"There," she stated. "All done," she announced to Grayson in particular. "Let's hope that was all that was making him grumpy."

_She picked him up and rocked him gently, hoping that maybe she could lull him back to sleep without another feeding until morning. _

_A smile crossed her features when Grayson nestled his face into the crock of her neck. _

"You really know what you're doing," Klaus observed as he leaned against the change table.

_His comment made her flustered. _

"I spent a lot of time with Elena and Grayson," she shrugged.

_He nodded. _

"You seemed to know what you were doing earlier this evening," she said, alluding to his recent and unexpected efforts with Grayson.

_He offered no reply initially. _

_Their argument earlier and everything that had happened since was waiting to be addressed. _

"I'm sorry," he said suddenly.

_She arched an eyebrow at him in response to his unexpected apology. _

"I was a prick...er..." he scrambled to find an appropriate word in front of Grayson. "I was a prick," he gave up. "I took out my raw emotions on you and I shouldn't have. You didn't deserve it. I should have been helping you, but instead I was avoiding it all," he admitted.

_Remaining quiet, she waited for him to gather his thoughts and continue. _

"Everything you said earlier was right. There is really no one but us to look out for Grayson. There is no one else Elijah and Elena wanted, or they would have stated it so," he carried on. "I see that now."

_She considered his words intently. _

"I was a little hard on you," she relented guiltily.

_He shook his head in denial. _

"I lashed out because I was afraid and I didn't want to acknowledge that you were right," he said.

"You don't think I'm afraid?" she countered empathetically.

_He shrugged. _

"I'm just as scared as you are. Babysitting Grayson here and there is a lot different than being his full-time parent," she said. "I think our fear is entirely acceptable. It would be stranger if we weren't scared on some level."

"I think that's partly why Elijah and Elena picked both of us," he said. "They didn't want one of us doing this alone."

_She agreed. _

"I don't want you to have to do this alone," he informed her. "We're all he has, and if I didn't try to honour Elijah and Elena's wishes, I know I would regret it."

"What are you saying?" she wondered, eyeing him curiously.

"I think we should try to raise Grayson together," he stated. "I think us both being in his life is what's best for him."

_She smiled cautiously. _

"What about everything else?" she inquired, referring to things like his job, her job, New York, and perhaps their brief history with one another.

"We'll deal with it all as it comes," he suggested, "as they become priorities."

_She gave him an uncertain look. _

"Save for some loose ends that I will need to tie up, I think I can manage to stay here until we're granted permanent custody," he reassured her. "That gives us time to settle the estate and decide what we want to do."

_She stared thoughtfully down at the floor as she mulled over what he had said. _

_There were still many questions and details to be considered. _

_Notably, she was worried that Klaus's commitment would be fleeting. _

_While trying to raise Grayson was ideal, she wanted no part of it if his words were empty._

"Are you sure about this?" she asked slowly.

_He paused and focused his attention on Grayson. _

"I'm sure that Grayson needs us," he said.

_Sensing and sharing both his insecurity and confidence, she nodded. _

"Me too," she replied.

* * *

**A/N: So? What did you think of Klaus and Caroline in this chapter? Review me, maybe? **

**I haven't begun the next chapter yet, so the next update will take a little while. **

**In the next chapter expect more confrontations. Esther and Mikael are arriving. **


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Hey there, I'm back with an update! **

**I apologize for the wait. Writer's block and then a hectic work schedule delayed this update.**

**You'll be happy to know that I basically have the next chapter following this one complete. Another update will be quick! **

**Thank you so much to my beta livingdeadblondegirl for being supportive and patient. I definitely don't deserve her. **

**Please let me know your thoughts on the chapter. I hope my delay hasn't discouraged you from reading.**

* * *

_She had slept well that morning despite the constant dull ache she felt in her chest over the loss of Elijah and Elena, in addition to the list of everything that needed to be done. _

_Grayson was not the one to wake her up this morning, it was the opposite actually; she had to wake him up. _

_Technically speaking, she supposed he had slept through the night despite his earlier interruption. It was one thing her mind could stress less about. _

_She had changed him before bringing him downstairs__,__ forgetting in those moments that Klaus had been assigned to the couch for sleep. _

_It was then she was also reminded of their interaction last night. _

_Not only did Klaus put in a genuine effort with Grayson - changing his very dirty diaper - but they had also reached an agreement of sorts. _

_While the specifics were tentative at best, they both conceded that raising Grayson together - however that might look - was what Grayson needed most. _

_Klaus would stay here for six months until they could obtain permanent custody and then they would go from there. _

_They had decided to become co-parents of Grayson. _

_It was an overwhelming decision that was going to take awhile to fully process. _

_She, Grayson, and Klaus would forever be connected as a result of the tragedy that happened less than forty-eight hours ago. _

_Part of her felt relieved to know that she wouldn't be in this alone, even more so now that Klaus had put an effort in, but there was another part of her that felt a keen sense of anxiety. She would have to adjust to becoming a mother overnight and she would also have to learn how to manage her new relationship with Klaus. Not only would she have to put their past behind her for Grayson's sake, she would have to consult Klaus when it came to everything concerning Grayson. _

_Despite that, she still believed the decision they made last night was the right one. _

_Elena and Elijah had specifically suggested both of them in the will, and regardless of all her concerns, it eased her mind to know that they would try and honour their final wishes. _

_Grayson needed them both; they had acknowledged that last night. _

_Just the fact that they had discussed it and made a decision took a lot of weight off her shoulders. _

_She was still dreading coming face to face with Mikael and Esther Mikaelson, but it was comforting to know that she and Klaus had made some unified decisions regarding Grayson prior to confronting them. She was certain Mikael and Esther would still give both her and Klaus the third degree, but at least they were on the same page now. They could stand up against his parents together. _

_Even the thought of Mikael and Esther made her cringe. The first and last time she had met them had left the most bitter of tastes in her mouth. _

_Confronting them was just another added stress. She tried to reassure herself by recalling what Klaus had suggested they do; deal with things as they needed to be addressed. _

_When she and Grayson appeared downstairs earlier in the morning, Klaus was already awake. He had coffee brewing and the television in the family room turned on at a low volume. _

_He was shirtless yet again and she had to scold herself for giving him a careful second glance. Sure, his body was attractive, but she was not attracted to him. Eventually the shock of encountering a half naked man every morning would wear off and she wouldn't think anything of it. That, or Klaus would start learning how to put a shirt on. _

_She hadn't stayed downstairs that long. After she had made Grayson a bottle, Klaus offered to take him so she could get ready for the day. _

_Klaus taking initiative was still a new concept to her, but she wasn't about to refuse his offer. She hadn't showered since Friday before she arrived at Elena and Elijah's to take care of Grayson; she was in desperate need of one. _

_By the time she was done and dressed, both Bonnie and Kol were awake downstairs. _

_Kol had decided to make them breakfast. Kol in the kitchen had made her wary at first, but Bonnie reassured her that it was alright. It turned out that Kol had a knack for making the most delicious pancakes. _

_After breakfast, Bonnie retreated upstairs to get ready while she offered to help Kol clean up. Klaus was on the floor in the family room with Grayson. _

_She watched the pair from a distance out of both concern and amusement, while she began to load the dishwasher. _

_Grayson had a bin of toys in the corner of the room that Elena and Elijah kept downstairs for convenience. _

_Currently Klaus had him occupied with a train that boasted stackable blocks, lights, and music. _

"I think Nik likes playing with the toys more than Grayson does," Kol remarked with a snicker as he continued to pre-rinse and wash some of the dishes they used.

_She laughed at Kol's comment absently as she watched Grayson try to shuffle his body across the floor in excited pursuit of the colourful locomotive. _

"He looks so much like Elijah," Kol mentioned with a sigh, handing her some dishes to load into the washer.

_Refocusing on her task and Kol, she nodded in agreement. While she could see Elena in Grayson, there was too much of Elijah there for her to ignore. _

_They fell silent as they both reprocessed - for the millionth time - that Grayson had lost both his parents. _

"I couldn't imagine being asked to do what you're doing," Kol said, "which is probably why I wasn't listed as a recommended guardian in the will," he chuckled, "but I think you're doing the right thing."

_She glanced at him questioningly as she fit some more dishes onto the racks. _

"I think that you _and Nik _are doing the right thing by Grayson," Kol conceded further.

_His acknowledgement was a little surprising to her given his pessimism regarding Klaus the previous evening. _

"He seems to be coming around to the idea," Kol observed, nodding his head past her towards the family room.

_Klaus and Grayson were laughing for an unexplained reason she couldn't decipher. _

_She smiled. _

"It seems like it," she confirmed.

"You'll have to give him some time to adjust," Kol urged as she sealed a soap cube in the dishwasher and shut the door.

"Grayson or Klaus?" she mused.

"Well both, but I was referring mostly to Niklaus," he clarified. "Grayson is much more adaptable than he is. This won't be easy for him."

"This won't be easy for either of us," she retorted. "Becoming an unwed single mother wasn't exactly a goal of mine to reach before I turned thirty."

_No, it had most definitely not been a goal of hers; famous dress designer? Yes. Married? Maybe. Children? Probably not by the time she was thirty. _

_She leaned against the kitchen counter as Kol finished the last of the dishes from the sink and placed them in the drying rack. _

"You have Nik," Kol reminded her.

_Her brows furrowed in his direction. _

"You know what I mean," she said.

_Kol shrugged and smirked at her mischievously_.

"Like I said, you have Nik," he repeated as he let the water out from the sink and turned for the family room.

_She scowled at his suggestion and stated to rinse the sink out as it finished draining. _

_Grayson's pleased squeal grabbed her attention and she glanced curiously over at the three. Kol had picked him up while Klaus was still seated on the floor, staring in her direction._

* * *

"What about this one?" Bonnie asked, holding up the dark navy blue dress.

_She peered out from inside Elena and Elijah's closet and looked at the dress indifferently_.

"It's too dark," she said, continuing to fish through Elena's clothing rack apprehensively.

_They needed to find appropriate clothing for both Elena and Elijah to be buried in to bring to the meeting with the funeral director. _

_Elijah's favourite gray suit had already been selected twenty minutes ago, but choosing what Elena would wear had proven to be a much more difficult and emotionally grueling task. _

_Deciding what your best friend would be buried in wasn't exactly easy. She didn't want to make the wrong decision. Moreover, this whole process had only served to solidify the reality of their deaths even further. _

_She hadn't even set foot in this room since she was last in it with Elena and Grayson before she and Elijah left. _

_A pile of Elena's clothes were splayed out on the bed beside Bonnie as she sorted through them. _

_She wiped a hand over her forehead stressfully, continuing to pick through the dresses. Elena had so many; probably more than she did herself. _

"Ugh," she sighed. "This is so hard."

_Her eyes were beginning to sting with the threat of tears but she managed to hold back. _

_Bonnie stood up from the bed and approached the closet doorway. _

_She thumbed a hand over a modest three-quarter sleeved purple dress. _

"What about that one?" Bonnie suggested.

_Chuckling, she shook her head. _

"No," she denied. "I made this for Elena as a project in college. It's so poorly done," she reasoned.

_Bonnie shrugged as she reached for the dress. _

"The dress is flawless, Caroline. You're being too hard on yourself. You know Elena loved this dress," Bonnie reminded her.

_She glared at Bonnie incredulously. _

"I'll put it in the contenders pile," Bonnie decided.

_Following Bonnie out of the closet with a defeated huff, she eyed the pile of potentials anxiously. _

"What time did Grayson get you up this morning?" Bonnie asked her as she laid the dress out beside the others.

"He didn't actually. I had to wake him up this time," she replied, feeling her mood shift instantly with talk of Grayson. "It was probably because he was up at one in the morning with me and Klaus, but technically he slept through the night," she said, unable to contain her enthusiasm.

_Grayson being able to sleep successfully was a sign that she - and Klaus - were doing something right. _

"Why were you up with Klaus?" Bonnie asked with a suspicious arched eyebrow.

"I wasn't. Grayson woke me up. Klaus came upstairs to check on Grayson when I did. I showed him how to change a diaper," she said, laughing under her breath at the thought.

_Bonnie seemed both amused and stunned by her response. _

"How romantic," Bonnie snorted sarcastically.

_She shook her head disapprovingly. _

"And you were the one warning me not to make this set of circumstances into something more," she pointed out, lifting up a floral dress from the bed to examine it. "If we're going to raise Grayson together, he has to learn how to change a diaper. I'm not going to be the one to do it all the time," she argued.

"I'm just bugging you," Bonnie replied with a smirk. "It's good to see Klaus taking initiative with Grayson; especially if you decide to raise him together."

_She nodded in agreement looking at Bonnie apprehensively - the way she usually did when she wasn't giving her friend the full story. _

"You're going to do it with him aren't you?" Bonnie concluded.

_Her eyes widened at her friend's choice of words. _

"Bonnie!" she exclaimed.

"I mean raise Grayson together. You've decided it?" Bonnie inquired.

"We're going to share custody," she confirmed.

"I thought you and Klaus were acting differently around one another this morning," Bonnie mentioned.

"What?" she asked.

"I don't know. You just seemed more relaxed around each other? More amicable?" Bonnie tried to explain.

_Bonnie seemed to describe the atmosphere that she had felt this morning perfectly. She had been less tense around Klaus. He had been less tense around her. They had talked casually - mostly about Grayson - but they had conversed nonetheless without the awkward bitterness that had seemed to dominate their encounters prior to the night before._

_This was a step in the right direction for them, she believed. As co-parents of Grayson, they both needed to be positively and actively involved without letting their personal concerns regarding each other or Elena and Elijah interfere. _

"We talked about Grayson last night when we put him to bed. We both think that raising Grayson together is what's best for him."

_Bonnie stared at her questioningly. _

"Is it what's best for both of you though?" Bonnie interjected.

"What's best for Grayson is what's best for us," she explained. "Living together in this house isn't going to be a permanent thing," she added, "after the estate is handled and we carve out some sort of working arrangement, we'll both move forward with Grayson and our individual lives," she stated.

_She put the floral dress back down as Bonnie dropped her hands to her sides. _

"Well, if that's what you two decide, then I'll support you," Bonnie assured her.

_She smiled, grateful for her friend's encouragement. _

"Thanks, Bonnie," she said. "It means a lot to me. I know that not everyone is probably going to agree with our decision."

"Mikael and Esther?" Bonnie guessed glumly.

"Yes them. I'm dreading their arrival," she groaned.

_Mikael and Esther were due to arrive in town with Rebekah later this afternoon. Just thinking of their inevitable conversation about Grayson later on made her stomach feel queasy. _

"You and me both," Bonnie seconded her sentiments. "They hate the idea of Kol and me together. They're elitist and I suspect a little racist. When Kol and I visited them last summer when I went to England they were so unwelcoming."

_She recalled Skyping with Bonnie after that particular meeting. Bonnie was nearly in tears despite Kol's personal reassurances. _

"They're terrible people," she reaffirmed. "I can't believe they're even coming to Mystic Falls given the way they have treated Elijah and Elena in the past. I know Elijah is their son, but they were never parents to him - or any of his siblings - in the ways that count," she argued.

_Bonnie agreed. _

"How do you think they'll react to the terms of the will?" Bonnie inquired curiously.

_She held up the purple dress again. _

"Uh they are probably going to freak out," she sighed, running a hand through her hair. "They probably believe that they are the executors and guardians of Grayson by default. When they discover someone else is they'll be angry. When they find out that it's Klaus and me, they will be furious," she guessed.

"Do you really think they'll be that upset? They don't seem like the type of people desperate to be guardians of their grandchild?" Bonnie suggested.

"I doubt they want to take care of Grayson, but I'm sure they would love to take care of his trust fund. They seem like those kind of people," she clarified. "I'm also confident they'll have a lot of negative things to say about Klaus and me as guardians of Grayson. I'm sure they'll use our history together against us the first moment they get the opportunity. I mean, our history is a legitimate concern - you and Kol both brought it up - but they'll be purposely malicious about it."

_Bonnie sighed knowingly as she took the dress from her. _

"Kol and I will be there as buffers. Maybe we can deflect some of the heat off of you," Bonnie wondered. "Rebekah will be there too."

_She nodded hopefully, but she was still visibly discouraged. _

"They won't be here long. They'll be back in England before you know it," Bonnie offered. "At the end of the day, it's yours and Klaus's names in the will, not theirs. Elijah and Elena wanted you and Klaus to take care of Grayson, not Mikael and Esther. There's nothing they can do about it," Bonnie argued.

"They can contest the custody arrangement," she said pessimistically.

_Bonnie's positive expression seemed to fall. _

"For the next six months Klaus and I only have tentative custody of Grayson. It's like a trial period. If our interviews with CPS go well, then we'll be granted permanent custody of Grayson by September. In that sixth month time frame though, anyone can contest our custody of Grayson - including Mikael and Esther."

"Do you really think they would do that?" Bonnie asked.

_She opened her hands uncertainly. _

"I wouldn't put it past them. They'd probably do it just to spite us," she thought.

_Bonnie shook her head in disbelief. _

"They're horrible, but not _that_ horrible," Bonnie reasoned.

_She glared at Bonnie incredulously. _

"Yes they are," she argued. "Besides, I'm sure contesting a custody arrangement is nothing to Mikael. He probably knows some high priced family lawyer who could snap their finger and make Elijah and Elena's will pertaining to the custody of Grayson null and void," she worried.

_Bonnie put the dress back down on the bed and wrapped an arm around her. _

"You're stressing yourself out about something that hasn't even happened yet, Care. If you let this weigh on your mind along with everything else, you're going to overwhelm yourself even further," Bonnie predicted. "Don't let something that is only a possibility get you down. Confront only what needs to be dealt with in the immediate future," Bonnie recommended, shifting her gaze down to the group of dresses.

_She nodded and looked down at the dresses fixedly, determined to follow Bonnie's advice. Their first priority was selecting a dress for Elena to wear. That was what she had to deal with right now. _

"I don't want to pick the wrong dress, Bonnie," she said.

_In part, she had been avoiding the decision in an effort to fend off the reality that her best friend was never coming back, but she was also avoiding it because she hated that she was unsure about what Elena would want. _

"One of Elena's favourite colours was purple. She loved that dress. She loved you for making it. I think she should wear it. I think she would want to," Bonnie urged.

* * *

_He took a drag of his cigarette off the back porch numbly. He was physically numb from the cold and emotionally numb in lieu of everything that had happened today. _

_The meeting with the funeral director had been so conventional and routine that he felt like they were planning some mundane every day event. _

_Elijah and Elena had already made most of the prearrangements. There were few decisions he and Caroline actually had to make, aside from how to pay for it until they were able to sort out Elena and Elijah's accounts. _

_The director went through everything as though it was some normal protocol - certainly for the director, as his job, it was. For him and Caroline it was not. _

_They discussed caskets and burial plots as though they were securing cars and real estate. Caroline gave the director Elijah and Elena's clothing as though they were being made over in lieu of more positive or happy circumstances. _

_It unnerved him and made him feel sick. _

_Elijah and Elena wanted no visitations or a public funeral. They wanted their burials to be private and confined to close friends and family. Following the burial, instead of a funeral, they wanted a public celebration of life to be held. They didn't want everyone's final memories of them to be contained within a drab funeral home. _

_As much as he understood that, the idea of celebrating and having fun following the burial of his brother and his sister-in-law made him uneasy. How could he enjoy himself and reminisce happily about fond memories of them after just watching them be lowered into the ground? _

_After the details of the funeral arrangements had been settled, they decided upon the Grill to be the place they would hold the so called, 'celebration of life.' Caroline made the phone call to the new owner. Given the circumstances and people involved (apparently word of Elena and Elijah's death had travelled around town quickly) Matt Donovan - the waitress's brother - was more than accommodating, allowing them to reserve a portion of the bar and restaurant for the event. _

_While the idea of holding a celebration of life was unsettling, he supposed it would be better than a visitation or formal funeral service in a funeral home or church without access to alcohol. He wouldn't be celebrating tomorrow with a drink in hand, but at least this way he could brood with one. _

_The sudden opening of the backdoor startled him. _

_Caroline emerged on the porch without a coat and a garbage bag in hand. _

"Where did Bonnie and Kol go?" she asked.

"They took some things over to the Grill for tomorrow and to put the final plans in place," he informed her.

_She frowned slightly. _

"I was going to do that," she stated.

"You can't do it all, love," he said casually.

_Rolling her eyes at him, she extended the bag of trash to him. _

"Well then maybe you'd like to take the trash to the garage and perhaps put the garbage can out at the curb?" she mused. "Tomorrow is garbage day and I don't want to forget."

_He gave her a small half smile as he put out his cigarette. Reluctantly, he took the bag from her before trekking off towards the garage. _

_When he returned inside after lingering in the garage and completing his chore he found a frazzled Caroline scurrying around the kitchen. Grayson was in his high chair with a half-empty bottle in hand and a jar of baby food on the table in front of him. _

"Your mother just called," she said once she noticed him.

"What did she say?" he asked.

"Your parents and Rebekah just got into town. She booked an early dinner reservation at the hotel for all of us," she sighed. "We don't have a lot of time. Grayson needs to eat and be bathed. We need to get ready."

_He grimaced. _

"You told her that we would go?" he questioned.

_She shrugged and nodded. _

"What was I supposed to say?" she wondered.

"No?" he suggested.

_The last thing he wanted to do was have dinner with his parents. He was hoping he could limit their interaction to a few hours tomorrow. _

_She scowled at his response. _

"We don't want to make them hostile," she said as she opened the fridge. "Perhaps if we humour them they won't be antagonistic when they find out about the will. Besides, I already texted Kol and Bonnie and told them about it."

"Sweetheart, humouring my parents will achieve nothing," he said confidently, knowing his parents would react negatively either way.

_She shot him a glare. _

"Well would you like to call her back and cancel then?" she countered.

_He considered it at first, but knew the effort would be futile. They could make up some excuse about how Grayson wasn't feeling good, but his mother would just insist upon visiting them at Elena and Elijah's instead. There would be no way of avoiding them tonight. At least if they went to dinner they could decide when to leave. Besides, Bekah was with them and he hadn't seen her since the summer. Having her, Bonnie, and Kol there would help diffuse the situation. _

"Fine, we'll go," he relented, even though he could already sense that this was going to be a shit storm.

_If he didn't agree, he had an inkling Caroline would decide to go on her own with Kol and Bonnie - she was persistent like that. He wasn't going to let her face them by herself. _

_His father would inevitably ask about the will because that was the kind of intrusive person he was. He would be curious to know if he was listed as a direct beneficiary or not. When it would be revealed that he was not, he would ask about Grayson. No, he wouldn't ask because he genuinely cared about his grandson, but because he wanted to know who would be managing the assets left to him. _

_The real storm would start when it would be revealed that he and Caroline would be taking care of Grayson. His parents had wicked senses of entitlement. Despite their minimal relationship with Elijah and Elena they would still expect to be listed as Grayson's guardians. To be honest, he was actually kind of looking forward to seeing their reactions, even in lieu of the insults he knew his father - and to a lesser extent, his mother - would toss their way. _

_At the same time, his parents discovering the arrangement made him a little anxious. Although he knew he and Caroline could fend off his parents in the immediate present, his concern was the future. If his father was feeling vindictive and greedy enough, he would contest the custody within the next six months. It was not outside the realm of possibility. _

_He supposed they would find out eventually, they might as well get it over with. _

"Maybe they'll come around?" she hinted suggestively.

"Don't get your hopes up," he replied, looking curiously between Caroline at the kitchen island and the jar of baby food. "You're giving him a bottle and this?" he wondered, nodding towards the jar.

"I wanted to try and get Grayson to eat some after he was finished his bottle, but then your mom called. I'll probably just put the jar away and try another time," she explained. "We'll be here forever trying to get him to eat it."

_He scoffed dismissively with a small smirk as he sat down in the chair closest to Grayson and grabbed the small jar and spoon. _

"I bet you a week of diaper changing that I can get him to eat this," he mused.

_She returned his amused but dismissive expression as she folded her arms. _

"We don't have a lot of time," she warned.

_He shrugged and picked up the jar of baby food. It was apple. _

_Grayson eyed him curiously as he dipped the spoon into the jar. His bottle was soon forgotten as his eyes fixed themselves on him. _

"Do we have a deal?" he asked, glancing at her over his shoulder.

"Fine," she sighed.

_He put a bit of the food on the spoon and brought it to Grayson's lips. _

_Grayson whined and turned his head away. _

"Come on, mate, try some," he urged as he examined the container. "This is like gourmet baby food - top of the line shi...stuff."

_He nudged the spoon a little closer to Grayson's sealed lips. _

"It's delicious," he stated, bringing the spoon to his own lips and pretending to try some.

_Grayson was watching him intently. _

_He returned the spoon to Grayson, but he still wasn't having it. _

"I told you he wouldn't eat it. Elena said he was eating baby food, but I guess now he doesn't want it for some reason," she shrugged.

_Deciding to try another tactic, he stood up and washed his hands off in the sink. _

"Giving up already?" she laughed.

"Not exactly," he said, returning to the table and sitting back down with Grayson.

_He dipped his index finger in the jar of mush and brought it to Grayson's mouth. _

_Grayson tipped his head back and refused. _

"Open up little guy," he pleaded.

_There was no reaction. _

_Desperate times call for desperate measures. _

_He fed himself the baby food instead. _

"Mmm, this is delicious," he exclaimed.

_It wasn't the best thing he had ever tasted, but it certainly wasn't the worst. _

_Caroline laughed from behind him. _

_Grayson's hands reached out for the sleeve of his shirt. _

"Do you want some now?" he asked animatedly.

_He put some more food on his other index finger and dabbed a little bit of the food on Grayson's lips intentionally. _

_At first he was worried Grayson would erupt into a fit, but when his tongue darted out instinctively and took a taste of the food, he smiled. Grayson appeared to smile as well. _

"See? I told you it was good," he said, looking back at Caroline victoriously.

"A tiny bit from your finger doesn't count," Caroline began to say, just as Grayson wrapped his little lips around his finger and took the rest.

_He sneered at Caroline and gathered up some more food on his finger and Grayson accepted it readily. _

_The feeling of Grayson's gums and tiny tongue against the tip of his finger made him chuckle, but it also gave him pause. Sure, he had given Grayson a bottle before, but this was a little different. He was literally feeding him. It made him realize how dependent Grayson now was on both him and Caroline. He really did need them in every possible way. That realization terrified him, but it also gave him an odd and unfamiliar sense of satisfaction. _

"I suppose the spoon will take some work," he admitted, "but it looks as though you'll be changing diapers for the next week, sweetheart," he declared as Grayson continued to eat from his finger.

_Caroline sighed in annoyance. _

"Well at least you got him to eat," she concluded.

_He held the jar in front of Grayson who proceeded to dip his own tiny fingers into the food. _

_Grayson giggled at the sensation. _

_His hand of food ended up mostly on his face rather than in his mouth, however. _

_He could already feel Caroline's panicked concern. _

"He's going to make a mess," she said, stating the obvious.

_Grayson laughed some more as he clenched his fist and some of the remaining food fell onto his bib and the surface of the high chair. _

"You said he needed a bath anyways," he said with a shrug. "Besides, he's having fun," he reasoned, watching amusedly as Grayson rubbed his hands together.

"Yeah, well Bonnie isn't here, so you're going to have to help me," she said.

_While a part of him was concerned about carrying out the new task, he found himself eager. He wanted to see Grayson's reactions to the water and the bath toys he had to move out of the way yesterday when he took a shower__._

* * *

_After Grayson was done eating, he followed him and Caroline upstairs. _

"Have you done this before?" he asked her as she handed Grayson to him once they entered the main bathroom.

_She shook her head. _

"No, but Elena bathes him right in the big tub. Ever since she and Elijah started taking him to baby swimming lessons at the community centre he doesn't like the infant tub anymore," Caroline informed him as she began to locate all the necessary items they were going to need.

"He takes swimming lessons?" he asked. "What do they teach a six month old? Diving techniques?" he chuckled.

_She rolled her eyes as she inched closer to him. _

"It gets them comfortable being in water. It gets parents comfortable with their kids being in water. It's mostly about the sensory experience," she explained.

_He tensed briefly, before she knelt down beside him unexpectedly and began to rummage through the cabinets underneath the sink. _

"You can start undressing Grayson if you want. I'll get the bath ready," she offered as she stood back up.

_He stood there awkwardly for a moment, a little taken aback by his unexplained reaction to her approach. _

_Luckily she seemed oblivious, even when he tried to head for Grayson's room and she tried to head for the tub at the same time and they nearly bumped into one another. _

_Suddenly his face felt hot, but he quickly brushed it aside. _

_As he undressed Grayson and disposed of his wet diaper, he could hear the bathtub being filled. _

_When he returned to the bathroom with a very naked Grayson in hand, Caroline had the sleeves of her blouse rolled up past her elbows and was busy securing her hair in a clip. _

_She took Grayson from him, giving him the opportunity to roll up his own sleeves in preparation. _

"Are we ready to do this?" she asked him nervously.

"It's just water, sweetheart," he mused. "You said he liked the water?" he reminded her.

_After a deep exhale, she brought Grayson to the tub of water. _

"The temperature is good; I checked it. You hold him or keep your hands close to him while I attempt to wash," she instructed as though she already had the whole situation mapped out.

_He wasn't about to interfere with her plan, even though he could tell she was already debating it. _

"Maybe I should hold him and you should wash?" she wondered aloud.

_He had come to learn a lot of things this weekend. The fact that Caroline Forbes was still a control freak was one of the more trivial things. _

_She was angling for what role could give her the most control over the situation. _

"I'll wash him," he offered.

_She glared at him. _

"You can hold him," she decided.

_He smirked having predicted that response from her. _

_She kneeled down on the towel beside the tub and lowered Grayson into the water cautiously. _

_Grayson squealed with delight as soon as his feet touched the water and he sat down. _

_A look of relief crossed both his and Caroline's faces. _

_He kneeled down beside her and reached his hands into the tub, resting one on Grayson's back while the other lingered near his front. _

_Grayson was too preoccupied with the floating rubber ducks by his feet to notice his hands or Caroline readying the small cloths and soap. _

"You technically changed his diaper," Caroline said slyly after a few moments of silence.

_He nudged one of the ducks by Grayson as he splashed his hands haphazardly in the water. _

"I suppose payment of the bet can commence tomorrow," he said.

_She nodded as she anxiously but gently dabbed a wet cloth against Grayson's face. Once his face was washed she used some soap and began to wash his torso. _

"Sorry," she murmured as their hands touched awkwardly in her attempt to manoeuvre hers around his so he wouldn't have to let go of Grayson_. _

_That tugging reaction in the pit of his stomach returned and faded as they broke contact. _

"Shit," Caroline said quickly, forgetting like he almost had earlier that Grayson was right there. "I keep thinking tomorrow is Sunday. I'll have to make sure the girls know not to open the store tomorrow," she reminded herself.

"People actually work for you?" he joked.

_She shot him a glare in response to his sarcastic tone. _

"Two people," she clarified.

"What's your turnover rate?" he laughed.

_She grimaced before splashing her free hand against the water and sprinkling his arm and shirt sleeve. _

_Grayson quickly mimicked her by bringing his hands down on the water with a sharp giggle. _

"You're teaching him bad habits," he warned teasingly.

"I don't think splashing you with water qualifies as a bad habit," she snickered.

_Caroline returned to washing Grayson's lower half while he kept his hands near Grayson guardedly as he watched him bat his hands at a few of the floating fish. _

"So how is business?" he asked genuinely.

"Spring is almost here. Business will pick up through until fall. I have a lot of custom work to do," she told him. "What about you?" she asked politely.

_Business for him had been steady, but it hadn't been the kind of business he wanted. _

"I've done a few commissioned pieces by request this year, but it's not something I like relying upon for money. I'd rather create the painting or drawing first from my own inspiration and have someone connect well enough with it to want to purchase it. I've sold a few pieces like that recently, but I have to supplement to afford my studio and gallery," he explained.

"Doing commissioned work is basically my bread and butter," Caroline sighed as she lightly scrubbed Grayson's feet. "I would love to be able to just make dresses and there be people who wanted to buy them on a consistent basis."

"Commissioned work is usually the best kind of advertising for your original work," he shrugged, "especially commissioned work for high profile people."

_She gave him an intrigued look. _

"I remember Elijah saying you sold a painting to the Mayor of New York. What other high profile people have you done paintings for? Celebrities?" she asked curiously.

_He laughed. _

"Some minor celebrities, but most of my high profile work is localized - confined to big name Wall Street hot shots who think their knowledge of money and numbers also makes them certified art connoisseurs. Their knowledge only affords them the ability to purchase it. "They couldn't tell a Matisse from a Malevich, or a Cézanne from a Picasso," he critiqued.

"So you take advantage of them then?" she sneered amusedly.

"No more than they take advantage of us," he shrugged. "I'll humour their self-proclaimed knowledge if it means I'll make a sale."

"I can't tell the difference between those artists either," she chuckled.

_He smirked. _

"Yes, but you admit that. They pretend to know what they're talking about," he told her.

"I'm about to start a dress for Carol Lockwood for the annual Masquerade fundraiser. That's about as high profile as I get," she mused.

_Her mention of the Lockwood family made him cringe. _

"Isn't that weird for you?" he wondered.

_She eyed him questioningly. _

"She's your ex's mother?" he clarified.

_Shaking her head, she removed the cloth from Grayson and draped it over the edge of the tub. _

"Not really. I mean, every now and then she'll talk about when Tyler and I dated, but I think she gets that we're not going to get back together now. Carol and I have been working on Miss Mystic together, too."

_He gave her a disbelieving look. _

"What?" she asked as she put a tiny bit of baby shampoo in the palm of her hand. "It's not like Tyler's mom cheated on me. Tyler is the asshole."

_Her eyes widened with embarrassment as she looked down at Grayson. _

"Maybe you should put that shampoo in your mouth," he laughed.

_She covered her mouth with her free hand and gasped before laughing nervously. _

"Grayson is going to have a colourful vocabulary," he teased her.

"Please don't listen to anything I just said," Caroline winced. "This no swearing thing is hard," she said to him. "We need a swear jar or something."

_He held his hands against Grayson as she stood up on her knees and leaned over the tub to wash the small amount of hair on Grayson's head. _

_Grayson began to get antsy during this part. _

"He clearly doesn't enjoy people messing with his hair," he concluded as Grayson slipped and wiggled under his hold.

_Caroline nodded amusedly as she ran Grayson's thin hair through her fingers. _

"Grayson likes his hair in a baby faux-hawk though," she said, "I did this with him the other day."

_He laughed at the sight of Grayson with a small tuft of hair sticking up with help from the water and lather from the shampoo. _

"He's a punk," he stated.

"I need to take a picture of this," Caroline awed, leaping up from the floor.

_She grabbed her phone from the bathroom counter and readied the camera feature. _

"Look in the camera, both of you!" she laughed. "Grayson," she said in a sing-song voice to capture his attention.

_Truthfully, he hated having his picture taken, but decided there was no harm in humouring her. He pointed to the camera and urged Grayson to look in that direction as he fixed his drooping soapy faux hawk. He heard her camera shutter as it took the shot. _

_Caroline smiled and he found himself smiling in response. _

"That is adorable," she cooed.

_She showed him the photo and he couldn't help but grin wider even though he could feel a small pang of guilt in his chest. _

"Can you imagine when he actually starts wearing his hair like this when he's a teenager?" Caroline thought as she put her phone back and returned to the tub.

_They both paused as the reality of their guardianship began to sink in further. This guardianship wasn't temporary. They would be in Grayson's life forever - even when he inevitably would decide to start rebelling. It was hard to process what things would look like for all of them in sixteen years. _

_Caroline grabbed a small red cup from the edge of the tub and filled it with a little rinse water._

"As long as he's not acting like an idiot, then I don't care how he wears his hair," he decided.

_She smirked and nodded in agreement. _

"Head back, Grayson," she instructed as she tipped his head back gently and started to rinse his hair out with the cup of water despite Grayson's feeble protests.

_He held Grayson tighter as he fought against his grip to escape. _

"He was good today," she noted, "at the funeral home. I was so nervous he was going to decide to get a little fussy."

_She rinsed Grayson's hair for a second time_.

"He didn't fuss because he was asleep almost the entire time," he remarked.

"Yeah and because of that, I doubt he's going to want to sleep at the restaurant," she sighed, the anxiety over dinner was clearly getting to her. "I loathe the people with crying babies in public places. Now I'll be one of them," she laughed. "Not to mention the fact that your parents will probably be there appraising our every move."

_His parents scrutinizing his every move had been his entire life. He was used to it. _

"So then it won't be any different than the last time you were around them," he said humorously, trying to ease her mind.

"Yeah, except this time if we make a wrong move it could be all the evidence your parents need to contest the custody arrangement," she frowned.

_So that possibility had apparently crossed Caroline's mind as well. _

_They were both searching for something to say to restore their confidence, but they were interrupted by a playful shriek from Grayson and an unexpected splash of water as Grayson slammed both of his fists into the water. _

_Caroline bore the brunt of the surprise splash as she had been leaning over him to carefully rinse the remainder of the shampoo residue from his hair. _

"I didn't think he could splash that hard," Caroline scowled as she looked down at the soaked front of her shirt.

_He laughed at her. _

"It's not funny," she protested half-seriously, splashing some water in his direction as she pulled back from the tub.

_His laughter stopped when he noticed the sheer nature the front of her blouse seemed to take on. He looked away quickly and took over with Grayson, ensuring that he was completely rinsed off with one hand while holding his slippery body in the other. _

_She stood up and disappeared behind him. _

"I should have changed before," Caroline chastised herself.

"Can you hand me a towel?" he asked her.

_He glanced over his shoulder, somewhat startled to see her now in only a white tank top that she had been wearing underneath. It had gotten wet too, making the lace embellishments of her bra entirely visible to him as the shirt clung to her slender torso. _

_A brief memory of how her waist fit perfectly into his hands crossed his mind. _

_Cringing with embarrassment as he turned back to Grayson, he desperately hoped she didn't notice the lingering glance his eyes had stolen. _

_He scolded himself. Kol's warnings about repeating history began to ring like alarm bells in his mind. He tried to reassure himself. He wasn't hung up on her like Kol had suggested. It was just a look. It meant nothing. There was nothing wrong in thinking she was still attractive. He had slept with her after all; of course he thought she was attractive on some level. It was an innocent fact that he would have to get used to being confronted by if they were going to live together for six months. _

"Klaus?" Caroline said, recapturing his attention.

_Snapping out of his daze, he grabbed the small towel she was offering him. _

"It's a bear towel to wrap him in. There's a hood with ears," she explained as he examined the awkwardly shaped towel.

"I'm going to change. You can dry him off and put a fresh diaper on him if you'd like," she explained.

_He nodded and she slipped through the other door into the bedroom she was occupying. _

_After figuring out the towel and giving Grayson a moment to dry off, he somehow managed to successfully put a new diaper on Grayson on his own. He supposed it was easier this time when he didn't have to worry about a dirty one to replace. _

_When Caroline appeared in Grayson's room from the bathroom, she was dressed in the same black pants, but was now wearing a more modest beige sweater. _

_She had definitely noticed him staring at her earlier, he thought. _

_He waited while she selected something for Grayson to wear - a plain white onesie with a tiny pair of jeans and a knitted zip up red and grey sweater. _

_She helped him change Grayson before quickly disappearing back into the bathroom, stating that she would clean up before she finished getting ready. _

_He couldn't help but get the faint impression that she was trying to avoid him. _


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Hey there! I'm glad you know some of you are still around reading and loving this story. It means a lot to know my effort is appreciated. **

**Mikael and Esther finally make their appearance in this chapter. I hope it lives up to your expectations. There are even some more small Klaroline moments for you to revel in. **

**Thank you to my beta, livingdeadblondegirl, for her speedy editing and suggestions. I added around 1,000 more words to this chapter in lieu of her recommendations, so you can thank her for that! **

**As always, I encourage you to type in a review - no matter how short or big - to let me know what you think - good or bad.**

* * *

_All five of them - including Grayson - had somehow managed to fit into Elena's car. _

_Klaus drove and Kol sat up front after having declared 'shot gun.' She and Bonnie had squeezed in the back with Grayson. _

_They were running late, thanks to Kol's procrastination on getting ready and an unanticipated last minute diaper change for Grayson. _

_She tapped her fingers anxiously against her thigh. _

_Their tardiness would be a great first impression - er second impression - she thought. _

_When the resort came into view a sick feeling burned its way through her stomach and up to her chest. _

_It was not out of some trepidation over encountering Mikael and Esther. It had more to do with her sadness over the loss of Elijah and Elena. _

_The last time she had been here - the last time any of them had been here - was for their wedding. _

_She wondered if the insensitivity of asking them here for dinner had even crossed Mikael and Esther's minds; probably not. _

_Luckily, they found a parking spot close to the front. _

_Bonnie and Kol went ahead to the hotel to confirm their arrival and to find his parents and Rebekah. _

_She removed Grayson from his car seat and held him close to keep him warm as she waited for Klaus to detach the carrier from the base. _

"They clearly don't want these bloody things to come apart, do they?" Klaus grumbled as he worked on the carrier.

_It had slipped her mind that he hadn't had to detach it before. _

"I think that's the point," she mused as he finally freed it.

_He scoffed at her as he turned around on his heel from the car door, carrier in hand. _

_For a brief moment they were less than a foot away from one another and it triggered the anxiety she felt around him when they had bathed Grayson. _

_Despite the cold air, her face still went hot as she quickly dwelled upon the way Klaus's hungry eyes had set upon her earlier in her translucent wet shirt. Too caught up with concern over her wet blouse, she hadn't even realized the awkwardness of the situation until she noticed the way Klaus was staring at her. She knew that look. It was one she had received from him before, but not in a while; a deep look of lust. She had tried chalking up the small smile she had on her face once she disappeared into Elena's old bedroom to common flattery and desperation - she honestly couldn't remember the last time a guy had looked at her that way - but she knew deep down that the cause of her smile ran deeper than that. _

"Are you ready to go in?" Klaus asked her, jolting her from her thoughts.

_She stepped back to give him space as she nodded. She was as ready as she could be. _

"I think so," she said reluctantly.

_As they approached the building, she gave herself a once over in the glass doors, ensuring that her appearance was satisfactory. This restaurant was not as formal as the one they had dined in for Elena and Elijah's rehearsal, but she was determined to make a good second impression. Her hair could have used a bit more curl, but she had been constrained by time. The heeled boots she was wearing made up for the rest of her lackluster appearance and gave her the added boost of confidence she needed to go into this. _

_Even Klaus had seemed to understand the importance of this dinner she noted as she found herself absently acknowledging his appearance. He cleaned up nicely in black pants and a white button up shirt. When she caught herself admiring the scent of his cologne, she promptly turned her head to inhale the fresh evening air as a means to distract herself. It was amazing how a simple smell could contain such vivid memories; dangerous memories and beautiful mistakes that she thought she had long since forgotten. _

_That, coupled with Bonnie's forewarning about reopening old wounds and repeating past mistakes, helped shake her from her dangerous thoughts. _

_Klaus opened the door for her and Grayson and they found Bonnie and Kol waiting for them just inside the lobby in the foyer area that led to the restaurant. _

_The subtle delicious smells from the restaurant encouraged her appetite, but that was quickly sullied when she caught sight of Mikael and Esther emerging from behind Bonnie and Kol. _

_Her hopeful smile could not even be salvaged by the appearance of Rebekah. _

_It was all she could do to stop herself from turning around and leaving. _

_Her mouth went dry and she began to feel lightheaded. _

_She tried to steady her breathing as they approached. Her hold on Grayson tightened. _

_Mikael was already giving them a judgemental glare, while Esther's reaction appeared more subdued. _

_Klaus stepped ahead of her, greeting both his parents detachedly. _

"Well don't you look domesticated," Mikael said to Klaus, observing the carrier in his hand and brown diaper bag on his shoulder.

_She gave Bonnie and Kol an anxious look as she managed to mutter a polite greeting. _

"Oh my goodness, he's gotten so big," Esther sighed, ignoring her presence completely and reaching immediately for Grayson.

_The woman reeked of perfume and alcohol. _

_Bewildered, she let Grayson go as Esther scooped him into her arms. _

"Nik," Rebekah said emotionally as she gave him a hug.

_She stepped back beside Bonnie helplessly, unsure of what to do or say. _

"Look at him. He's so precious," Esther gushed to an indifferent Mikael.

_Just by the way Grayson was fidgeting and trying to avoid Esther, she knew he was uncomfortable. It probably had a lot to do with the fact that she smelled like she had been in the middle of a bar and perfume shop explosion. _

"Hey, Caroline," Rebekah said, briefly distracting her from her worry.

_She hugged Rebekah as they both offered each other their condolences. _

_Grayson's continued whimpers caught her attention. When she pulled back from Rebekah's embrace, she could see Esther struggling to calm him down. _

"He must be tired or hungry...or maybe in need of changing?" Esther suggested to her in particular with a critical stare.

"He had a nap earlier. He's been fed and changed. He should be fine," she shrugged, trying not to sound too defensive. "It's probably just the excitement of being here," she proposed.

_Esther nodded with a forced smile. _

"Maybe he just wants to see his grandpa?" Esther cooed, offering Grayson to Mikael.

_She sucked in a breath and did her best to control the anger she felt at the sight of Mikael reluctantly taking Grayson. _

"Doesn't he look just like Elijah when he was a baby?" Esther asked Mikael, who stood there frigidly with Grayson.

_The sounds of protest only seemed to grow louder from Grayson at having been placed in Mikael's arms. _

"They're babies; they all look alike," Mikael said coldly.

_Grayson was almost in the middle of a full on cry at this point and she had to resist the desire to step in and come to his immediate aid. She didn't want Mikael and Esther to think she was interfering. She was still hoping they could make a good impression. _

"Now who looks domesticated?" Klaus said sarcastically to his father.

_She tensed and wanted to reprimand him for playing into his father's hand. This would only end badly for them. Her hope for a good impression was quickly falling by the wayside. _

"Actually, I take that back," Klaus sighed.

_She relaxed. _

"You wouldn't be able to tell that you were a father to six kids," Klaus sneered.

_Her eyes shot him a threatening glare, as did everyone else's. _

"Five kids," Mikael corrected him, "five kids and one bastard."

_She closed her eyes briefly, fighting the urge to cover her face in horror, now fully expecting a repeat of their last dinner that ended in fists flying. _

_Klaus and his father could not be in the same room with one another for more than a few minutes before they were down one another's throats. While a part of her wanted to applaud Klaus's low shots, she knew they were not conducive to the amicable atmosphere they were trying to foster between them and his parents for Grayson's sake. _

_This was already shaping up to be a disaster. _

_Klaus looked visibly affected by his father's biting comment as he stood there with his jaw and fists clenched. _

_Thankfully, Klaus held back another one of his snide responses long enough for Rebekah to intercede. _

"Let me see my nephew," Rebekah requested, breaking the tension as she took Grayson from a relieved looking Mikael.

_Grayson calmed down almost instantly with Rebekah. _

"You're adorable," Rebekah said in a baby voice. "He's like a mini Elijah," she added with a bittersweet tone.

_A smile appeared on Grayson's lips. _

_Even Grayson seemed to know instinctively who could be trusted and who could not be. _

"Well at least we don't have to question his paternity," Mikael said sarcastically as he brought his hands together.

_She narrowed her eyes at him. Where did this man find the nerve to make horrible and completely false insinuations about Elena, especially during a time like this? _

"Father," Rebekah piped up with a warning tone.

_Mikael shrugged innocently as though his comment had been completely harmless. None of his comments were ever intended to be harmless. _

_Before things could escalate, a hostess appeared in the doorway. _

"Your table is ready, if you'd like to follow me," she offered.

"It's about time considering we made a reservation in advance," Esther groaned.

_They entered the busy restaurant and were taken to a longer rectangular table in the corner of the room. Made up of eight places, it was capable of seating all of them. _

_She froze when she felt a presence behind her and unfamiliar hands on the collar of her black jacket. _

"Let me help you with your coat," Mikael said.

_She obliged him hesitantly, slinking out of her jacket. With it off, she turned slightly, offering him a forced half-smile. Mikael handed the hostess her jacket, but his devilish eyes remained fixed on her. Feeling uncomfortable, she glanced away. _

_Klaus was staring bitterly at their exchange as he took a seat at one end of the table. _

_The hostess then offered to take Klaus's coat - he being the only remaining person still wearing one. _

"Your server will be with you shortly," the hostess stated before turning back for the restaurant entrance.

_She sat down on Klaus's left, with Rebekah taking the seat beside her and Esther taking the seat beside Rebekah. Mikael took a seat at the head of the table opposite Klaus. _

_Kol and Bonnie were seated across from her, leaving one chair open, separating Mikael from Kol. _

"When are Sage and Finn arriving?" Kol asked casually.

"Probably not until ten or eleven tonight," Esther informed him. "They couldn't get on the flight with us."

_Tuning out Mikael and Esther's voices, she smirked down at Grayson who was trying to tug at Rebekah's hair. _

"He has a thing for long hair," she shrugged amusedly.

_Rebekah smiled and began to make funny faces at Grayson. _

_She looked around the table, catching the tail end of a conversation about Finn and Sage's kids. Kol was pretending to listen. Klaus was on his phone. Bonnie was giving her a bored stare. _

_Just as she was considering carrying out a covert text conversation with Bonnie about their mutual loathing for this dinner, she felt tiny hands on her leg. _

"It looks like he wants to sit with you," Rebekah said, looking down at Grayson who was reaching for her lap.

_She nodded and helped Grayson get seated in her lap. So much for that text conversation, she thought as she glanced apologetically over at Bonnie. _

_Their female server soon appeared taking down all of their drink selections. _

_She was not surprised when all three of the Mikaelson men ordered some variant of whiskey and Esther ordered herself a bottle of red wine. Bonnie and Rebekah decided to indulge in one of the premium cocktails listed on the drink menu, while she confined herself to ice water. Not only did they need a designated driver, but someone needed to stay sober for this. _

"Would you like a high chair for your son?" the server asked her.

_At first she didn't respond, concluding the question wasn't directed towards her. Then she noticed everyone looking at her and Grayson - the server included. _

_The assumption wasn't too far-fetched, so rather than correcting the server and embarrassing her, she simply nodded politely, ignoring the uncomfortable feeling in the pit of her stomach. _

"So he's your son now?" Mikael asked.

_She shrugged anxiously, preventing the conversation from going any further too soon. She wasn't sure if it was her place to discuss the details of the will. She wanted to leave it up to Klaus to inform them. They were his parents, after all. _

_When the server returned with their drinks and a suitable high chair for Grayson, she hastily placed her dinner order having barely looked at the menu. Her appetite had entirely disappeared at this point. She couldn't care less what she ate. _

_While the server took the rest of the table's orders, Klaus helped her with the high chair. Although her back was turned, she could feel Esther and Mikael's scrutinizing gaze. _

_Once Grayson was secure, he immediately set upon banging his tiny fists against the table surface. It wasn't loud compared to the general noise of the restaurant, but it might still be perceived as annoying to those close to them. _

_She panicked a little inside, self-conscious of becoming one of those parents with the unrelenting noisy baby. _

_As they waited for their meals, she preoccupied herself by trying to preoccupy Grayson with the quiet plush toys she had packed for him. _

_She didn't care for the current direction the general conversation at the table had taken. _

_Esther was busy delving into discussion surrounding the funeral arrangements. _

"We already talked to the funeral director this morning," she heard Klaus interrupt. "Everything is taken care of according to what Elijah and Elena wanted. Most of it was planned in advance by them."

_Esther swallowed a sip of wine and looked at Klaus curiously. _

"What about what their family wants?" she countered.

"You know Elijah was always selfish like that. He never wanted us to have a say in anything," Mikael interjected.

_Esther sighed. _

"As his parents we should have a say," Esther shrugged.

"Maybe Elijah and Elena just didn't want to burden any of us with the details?" Rebekah suggested, once again mediating the conversation.

"They didn't," Kol affirmed. "Elijah never wanted to be a burden. He was always the one looking out for us."

_The Mikaelson siblings exchanged knowing glances with one another. _

"So then what are the details for the funeral exactly?" Esther asked curiously.

_Klaus shrugged. _

"They want a private burial, confined to close family and friends followed by a celebration of life. The burial is tomorrow morning. The celebration of life is that the Grill tomorrow afternoon," Klaus informed them simply.

"They don't want a proper funeral?" Esther gasped. "And they want a party held at the bar downtown?" Esther wondered incredulously.

_She could hear the disdain in Esther's voice. _

_Mikael made his displeasure known with a firm scoff. _

"Elijah and Elena didn't want us to mourn them. They wanted us to focus on the happy memories. We followed exactly what was stated in their will," she spoke up, coming to Klaus's defense.

_Esther shook her head disappointedly. _

"Judging by your keen sense of knowledge regarding the details of the will, I am going to assume Elijah and Elena made the foolish mistake of selecting you as executors?" Mikael assumed.

_She and Klaus both nodded, and she prepared herself for the topic of Grayson's custody to follow. _

"Who the hell is their lawyer?" Mikael complained.

_Klaus chuckled under his breath. _

"Stefan Salvatore, Giuseppe Salvatore's son," Klaus mused. "The same son you have praised on numerous occasions."

_Mikael seemed surprised and a little flustered. _

"I'm sure Elijah and Elena went against Stefan's council in making that decision," Mikael lamented. "Stefan would have never condoned that."

"Regardless of what you think Stefan would or wouldn't have advised, it wasn't his decision to make anyways," Klaus replied, before taking a long sip of his drink.

"Of course you wouldn't complain. You're reaping all the benefits of the decision," Mikael hissed.

_Klaus shook his head incredulously. _

"Yes, the benefit of planning my own brother's funeral," Klaus shot back with stinging sarcasm. "There are no benefits."

"No benefits save for the percentage of the estate you will be paid for your humble service," Mikael scoffed.

_She hadn't even gone over Elena and Elijah's will in detail enough to read about provisions for them as executors. Being reimbursed for carrying out Elena and Elijah's final wishes had never even dawned on her. It seemed in poor taste. Everything Elijah and Elena had should go towards caring for Grayson. _

_Before the conversation about the will could escalate, the server appeared with their meals effectively putting an end to the current discussion. _

_Forgetting what she had ordered, she was surprised to see a cream soup and salad set in front of her. She wished she had been here under better circumstances with more of an appetite. The soup smelled delicious and the salad looked flavourful but she really had no desire to eat. Nevertheless, she started to pick at the salad slowly while simultaneously trying to amuse Grayson. _

"So Kol, have you decided what you're going to do for the summer?" Esther asked.

_If it wasn't one controversial topic, it was another. _

_As far as she knew, Esther or Mikael had no idea about Kol's intent to spend the summer in New York with Bonnie. _

"I'm going to New York," Kol announced.

_Esther seemed uncertain while Mikael seemed critical. _

"New York? What on earth will you be doing there?" Mikael demanded.

"I'm going to be doing some of my research at NYU, helping out with some summer classes, and getting into trouble when I'm not doing either of those things," Kol sighed with a satisfied tone.

_Anxiety was etched across Bonnie's face. _

"Where will you live? With Niklaus?" Esther wondered hopefully.

_She winced as Bonnie looked nervously at Kol. _

"Actually, Bonnie and I are going to be living together. Luckily for me, she'll be losing a roommate this summer and will be in need of a replacement," Kol informed her.

_Esther's fork clinked against her plate as she struggled to swallow her food. _

"What a great idea," Mikael seethed.

"I didn't know you two had become that serious," Esther tried to say calmly.

_Kol shrugged. _

"It's not like we're getting married or anything yet, Mother," Kol laughed with his mouth half full. "It's just for the summer. You know if I lived with Nik we would probably end up killing one another," Kol joked further, trying to ease the tense atmosphere.

"Yet?" Esther wondered, choosing to zero in on that particular word.

_She watched a confused range of emotions cross Bonnie's features. _

_Kol had just mentioned the prospect of marriage, but Bonnie was also confronted by his parents' lukewarm reaction. _

_As a result, Bonnie seemed excited and disappointed all at once. _

_She gave Bonnie a sympathetic smile. _

"Well maybe someday," Kol said as he put his arm around Bonnie.

"You two are disgusting," Rebekah cringed playfully.

"You're just jealous Bekah," Kol beamed.

_Rebekah scowled and crossed her arms. _

"Why can't I find a guy who wants only me?" Rebekah grimaced.

_Kol snorted audibly from across the table. _

"Well perhaps if you started opening your legs for only one guy then he would want only you," Kol teased.

_Rebekah glowered at Kol and pointed her fork menacingly in his direction as everyone, excluding Esther and Mikael tried to suppress laughs at Kol's inappropriate joke. _

_Even Grayson began to laugh. _

"See? Even Grayson knows it's true," Kol chuckled.

_Rebekah rolled her eyes. _

"That's enough, Kol," Esther chided.

_Kol sneered and slouched back in his seat in annoyance. _

"I don't know what you see in him, Bonnie," Rebekah groaned.

"The Mikaelson name and fortune perhaps?" Mikael suggested arrogantly.

_She gasped under her breath at Mikael's audacity. _

_Was it possible for her to loathe this man anymore? _

_Bonnie looked like she was on the verge of tears. It was completely unlike her. She was always such a strong-willed and opinionated person. It pained her to know that even Bonnie could be brought down by Mikael's intimidation tactics. _

"Does it even exist anymore?" Klaus countered critically.

_Mikael polished off his liquor glass and wiped the alcohol residue away from his lips with his hand. _

"That's something you'll never know the answer to, boy," Mikael fumed.

"Well seeing as how most of it went towards covering up your own legal troubles if I recall, I don't suppose I will," Klaus stated.

_She seemed to learn something new about the Mikaelson family every time she was around them. Mikael's personal legal woes intrigued her and she was curious for the details. _

"Kol, if you spend the summer here in America, you're going to miss all the things I intend to do with Grayson," Esther said excitedly, sealing one can of worms by opening up another. "There's the zoo, the park, the beach," she listed. "It's going to be so much fun."

_She dropped her spoon in her soup bowl and looked up curiously. Klaus seemed to share her confused expression, as did Bonnie and Kol. _

_How could Esther take Grayson anywhere this summer if he was here with her and Klaus? Unless Klaus wasn't telling her something, there were no plans in place to travel to overseas. _

"Are you sure you'll be able to?" Kol asked.

_Mikael shrugged. _

"Why wouldn't it be possible? I already pulled some strings so we can take Grayson back with us when we leave," Mikael stated.

_Her stomach dropped. _

_Kol snickered mischievously. _

"You might want to run that by Caroline and Klaus first," Kol grinned.

"And why would we have to do that?" Esther wondered. "By default we're his legal guardians."

_She looked at Klaus anxiously and pleadingly, urging him to say something. _

_Klaus dropped the steak knife he had in his hand and finished chewing through his food before looking intently across the table at his parents. _

"Actually, Caroline and I are Grayson's legal guardians. Elijah and Elena listed us together in the will," Klaus declared.

_She and Bonnie both tensed in anticipation of the disastrous reaction. Kol was sitting on the edge of his seat as if ready for the excitement and chaos that was about to ensue. _

_Cautiously, she looked to Rebekah first. _

_She allowed herself to breathe a little when she noticed that Rebekah seemed pleasantly surprised by the news. _

"Excuse me?" Esther inquired as her features darkened.

"Elijah and Elena want Caroline and me to be Grayson's permanent guardians," Klaus shrugged.

_Mikael erupted into contemptuous laughter. _

"You can't be serious?" Mikael groaned.

"I'm quite serious," Klaus nodded.

_Esther gave Mikael a horrified look. _

"Were they under the influence when they made that decision? Who the hell in their right mind would give you a baby?" Mikael grumbled.

"Who would give you one?" Klaus asked defensively.

_Mikael sat back in his chair smugly. _

"I've raised six kids," Mikael replied.

"Five," Klaus seethed.

"Regardless, we both know your mother and I are better equipped to raise a baby," Mikael chuckled confidently.

"Are you?" Klaus wondered as he nodded his head towards his mother's nearly finished bottle of wine.

"More than you'll ever be," Mikael said, shrugging calmly. "I mean, hypothetically, let's say you decided to entertain this foolish notion of becoming a father, how can you and Miss Forbes provide a suitable and stable environment for Grayson? Hmm?" Mikael asked. "The last time I checked, you live in New York and she lives here. Your hobbies include liquor and women. You finger paint for money and Caroline hems clothing. How can you afford to raise him?" Mikael demanded. "The idea of you two taking care of Grayson is ludicrous."

_She had reached her breaking point. She had heard enough of his destructive comments. He wasn't concerned about Grayson. He simply wanted to bring them down. She couldn't keep quiet and defenceless any longer. _

"Stop," she interrupted.

_Everyone turned their attention on her. _

"Don't you think Klaus and I have already asked ourselves all of these questions, and then some? We know that we're going to have to make some lifestyle adjustments. We're prepared to make the financial commitment. We're capable of both. We wouldn't take on the responsibility if we didn't think we could handle it. We want to raise Grayson. The decision has already been made," she stated firmly.

_Klaus gave her an appreciative half smile for stepping in. _

"Has it now?" Mikael said patronizingly.

_She nodded. _

"Klaus and I are going to raise Grayson together."

"What does that mean exactly?" Mikael wondered.

"It means I'm going to move to Mystic Falls temporarily so we can settle the will and formalize the custody arrangement," Klaus clarified.

"You're just going to pack up and leave New York? What about your quaint little gallery and your 'art'?" Mikael asked.

"I can paint anywhere. As for the gallery, it's only open a few days a week. Marcel can take care of it," Klaus explained.

_Mikael crossed his arms, feigning interest. _

"It sounds like you have it all figured out," Mikael hissed. "What about here? Where will you live?"

"We're both going to move in to Elena and Elijah's," she informed him. "It will be easier for us and for Grayson until we decide what to do with the house."

_Both Mikael and Esther's eyebrows rose. _

"So you're going to live together with Grayson?" Esther asked.

"Yes," she answered, trying hard to contain the swell of hostile and devastated emotion inside of her that was threatening to be released.

_She didn't want to let them get to her. _

_Mikael shook his head with amusement. _

"Are you sure you can keep your hands off of one another long enough to raise Grayson?" Mikael chuckled sardonically. "I warned you about my son once. Are you really that foolish as to think that this time will be any different?"

_She let out a huff of frustration. _

"That's not what this is about. Klaus and I have put that behind us. This is about what's doing what's best for Grayson. The only thing that's ludicrous is that you believe the both of you are it," she snapped scornfully. "Elena and Elijah wanted you nowhere near their son."

_Pushing her chair back from the table, she stood up. She was tired of trying to appease them. She didn't owe them anything. She and Klaus were Grayson's guardians. His parents were the ones who would have to prove their case if they thought it should be otherwise._

* * *

_She tore off furiously in search of the restrooms. She couldn't be at that table any longer. She was suffocating. She needed to regain her bearings before she recited anymore of the scathing things on her mind. _

_When she couldn't find the restrooms on her own, she left the restaurant completely, her entire body shaking as she entered the main lobby of the hotel. _

_She couldn't believe the nerve of those people. She hated them with every fibre of her being. She didn't think it was possible to hate two people so much. Becoming Grayson's guardian had intensified the sentiment. _

_The only thing she had been foolish about was thinking - for even a moment - that they could pull this dinner off tonight without any explosions. _

_If anyone was going to walk out, she fully expected it to be Klaus. Now here she was, walking down one of the main hotel corridors aimlessly, trying to calm herself down. _

_She shook her head disappointedly as she replayed the disaster in her mind. _

_Gritting her teeth, she scolded herself for letting Mikael and Esther get to her. _

_Klaus did not need her help in inciting his parents. He had done that well enough on his own. She had only served to make things worse. She had played right into their hand and added fuel to the fire. _

_She wasn't even a few days into it and already she was putting her guardianship of Grayson at risk. If Mikael and Esther made any attempt to contest custody, she was certain her outburst just now would be used against her and Klaus. _

_The doors to the empty reception hall were open and the room was vacant, so she stepped inside. _

_It looked completely different than it had just over a year ago. _

_She bit her lip to suppress the tears that were looming as she looked around. _

_Being here was so bittersweet. _

_The happy memories were comforting, but in lieu of absence of Elijah and Elena they were now difficult to digest. _

_Moreover, this room seemed to confront her more poignantly with the possibility that she could be failing both of them. _

_She stood there for a few moments, allowing herself the time to shed a few tears before she made the effort to regain her composure and return to the restaurant. _

"Hey," an accented female voice said from behind her.

_Looking over her shoulder, Rebekah was standing in the doorway cautiously. _

"Hey, sorry, I'm coming back. I just needed a minute," she explained as she wiped her fingers under her eyes to clear away any running mascara.

"It's okay. The dinner is over anyways. I came to tell you. My brother is settling your bill," Rebekah informed her.

_She frowned. _

"I should go back," she said guiltily.

_Rebekah held her hand out. _

"Nik's taking care of it. It's okay," Rebekah assured her with a small smile.

_She shook her head. _

"No, it's not okay. I ruined everything," she muttered.

"My parents ruined everything," Rebekah corrected her. "They tend to do that. None of it's your fault. I don't blame you for reacting the way you did."

_She was struggling to remember a time when she hated Rebekah Mikaelson. Prior to Elena and Elijah's wedding she had severely misjudged her. _

"Thanks," she replied.

_Rebekah offered her a napkin to wipe her eyes with properly. _

"The last time I was in this room my brother and Elena were getting married," Rebekah recalled. "Now the both of them are gone. It's amazing how quickly things can change."

_She nodded. _

"They were so happy that day," she said, managing a smile through her tears.

"They were so in love," Rebekah sighed.

_After wiping her own eyes with the napkin, she handed it back to Rebekah who had shed a few of her own tears at this point. _

"Elijah was such a good big brother. He and Elena were becoming amazing parents," Rebekah winced.

_Agreeing quietly, she and Rebekah stood there beside each other silently. _

"I'm not surprised they wanted you and Nik to be Grayson's guardians," Rebekah admitted. "I mean, granted, I'm a little concerned about how the two of you are going to make it work together, but as people, you're most like Elena and Elijah - even Nik. He may be rough around the edges and have a bit of an unorthodox personal life, but he's fiercely loyal to those he considers his family. That's what matters most," she affirmed. "Eventually he'll get the hang of feedings and diaper changing," she laughed.

_She smiled at Rebekah's vote of confidence. _

"Klaus has the hang of diapers and feedings pretty well already, actually," she mused.

_Rebekah arched a surprised eyebrow. _

"He even got Grayson to eat some baby food this afternoon," she added. "He's been good. I think Elijah would be proud."

"Or relieved," Rebekah teased.

_They both laughed lightly. _

"At the end of the day, Nik loves Elijah and he adores Grayson. My father underestimates that. Nik would never let either of them down," Rebekah said confidently.

_Rebekah wiped her eyes again. _

"Obviously I wish Elijah and Elena could still be here to raise their son, but since they can't, I think this is what is best for Grayson. I think this is a good thing for Nik. It's a good thing for you," Rebekah paused. "It could be a good thing for the two of you," she said cryptically, giving her a small suggestive smile.

_She opened her mouth to protest, but Rebekah was already turning to leave the room. _

"Come on. My brother is probably waiting for you," Rebekah said.

* * *

_Back in the lobby, she found Klaus waiting for her with Grayson in one hand and her coat in the other. Kol and Bonnie were there too; Kol holding onto the baby carrier and Bonnie holding onto the diaper bag and both their purses. She hadn't even realized that she had left her purse at the table when she had made her hasty exit._

_She felt guilty for abandoning them despite the sympathetic looks they were currently giving her. _

_From the corner of her eye, she could see Mikael and Esther emerging from the restaurant. _

"I'll see you all tomorrow," Rebekah said. "I'm going up to my room," she told them, nodding towards her approaching parents.

_Rebekah then proceeded to kiss Grayson on the head before mussing his hair. _

"Let me know if there's anything I can do for tomorrow," Rebekah said to her and Klaus.

_They both nodded. _

"See you tomorrow, Bekah," Kol said to his sister as she started for the elevators.

_Taking her coat from Klaus, she put it on and then reached for Grayson. _

"Can I see him?" she asked, feeling this instinctive need to keep Grayson close to her.

_As Klaus handed him to her she noticed Mikael and Esther's penetrative stares a few feet away from them. _

_She was literally hugging Grayson against her while she exchanged cold glares with them. _

_Klaus, Kol, and Bonnie all glanced in the direction she was focused on to find Mikael and Esther for themselves. _

_Forcing herself to look away, she turned her back and began to head for the exit. _

_There was nothing more she had to say to them, and nothing more she wanted to hear from them. _

_Unfortunately, she was still able to decipher Mikael telling Klaus that he intended for Stefan to make him a copy of the will._

* * *

_The car ride home was a silent one, at least from her and Klaus it was. _

_Kol and Bonnie spent most of the drive berating Mikael and Esther until Klaus had told them to knock it off. They then spent the rest of the ride giggling flirtatiously in the backseat while she and Klaus sat awkwardly up front together. _

_When they arrived back at the house it was already well past Grayson's bedtime, so she was not surprised to find him asleep in his carrier. _

"Do you want me to take him?" Klaus offered, as she pulled a barely awake Grayson out of his car seat.

"No," she shook her head. "I'm gonna bring him upstairs and get him ready for bed. Maybe you could make him a bottle?" she suggested. "He might be hungry."

_Klaus nodded and followed her inside once Kol got the door unlocked. _

_She didn't even bother to remove her coat and boots, preferring instead to take Grayson directly upstairs. _

_It was all Grayson could do to keep his eyes open as she changed him. _

_Deciding to let him sleep rather than keep him awake for a bottle, she placed him in his crib. _

_His eye closed almost instantly. _

_A smile tugged at her lips while tears threatened to fall again from her eyes. She hated being such a mess of emotions. _

_She supposed the whirlwind of events over the past few days would do that to a person. _

_All of it had only worked to strengthen her resolve to protect Grayson and ensure that he was taken care of. _

"Good night, little guy," she whispered, making sure to turn on the small nightlight before she left the room.

_As she walked by the door to Elena and Elijah's bedroom, she recalled the clothes she and Bonnie had taken out earlier. _

_When she turned on the light, she found the pile of dresses still draped over the bed. _

_In an effort to distract herself from the horrible evening and to satisfy the neat freak part of her personality, she began to collect the dresses, one by one, and hang them on Elena's side of the walk-in-closet. _

_There was a small voice inside her mind that told her putting the dresses of a deceased person back in their closet was senseless, but she was not ready to start removing them. That didn't feel right, nor did it feel right to leave them lying out; so she continued to put them back. _

_As she went through them, she couldn't help but second guess the dress choice she had made with Bonnie for Elena. _

_It filled her with a nagging sense of anxiety. _

"I guess we're skipping the bottle tonight?" Klaus said from the closet doorway.

_Startled by his presence, she wiped her teary eyes and turned around. _

"You scared me again," she breathed.

"Sorry, again," he chuckled lightly before stopping, having noticed the tear stains on her cheeks.

_She emerged from the closet as he stood there warily, seemingly waiting for her to explain herself to him. _

"I just ended up putting Grayson to bed instead. He was fighting to stay awake as I was changing him. If he wakes up hungry later, I'll get up with him and feed him," she decided.

_Klaus looked around the room apprehensively, obviously uncomfortable with being in Elijah and Elena's bedroom. _

"What are you doing?" he finally asked, letting his curiosity get the better of him as he set Grayson's bottle down on the dresser.

"Putting Elena's dresses away," she said as she went for the last one on the bed. "The one's Bonnie and I had to pick from this morning."

_For some reason in that moment her anxiety began to get the better of her. She paused at the edge of the bed, staring down at the remaining gray dress. _

_All of the sudden, much like yesterday with the shattered vase, her feelings began to overwhelm her. Her chest felt heavy, her eyes began to sting, and her throat started to swell. She tried to swallow the emotion down but it was of no use. Before she knew it, tears were rolling down her cheeks as she started to sob uncontrollably. _

_She covered a hand over her mouth in embarrassment and in an attempt to stifle the painful sound. _

"Whoa, whoa," Klaus said from behind her. "What's the matter, sweetheart?" he asked, forcing her to face him as he turned her around by her shoulders.

"Nothing," she stammered as her lip quivered. "I'm fine," she said, looking away, trying to focus on any part of the room that didn't remind her of Elena or Elijah.

_It was impossible. The first thing she caught sight of was a black and white photograph taken of Elijah and Elena with Grayson when he was a newborn. _

_She winced, her eyes clenching shut flashing a string of memories before her: childhood memories with Elena and Bonnie, birthdays, sleepovers, summer camp; Elena's wedding day; Grayson's birth. She could see all of it. _

"You're not fine," Klaus's voice rang through, forcing her to open her eyes.

_Seeing him only made her cry harder. _

_It had nothing to do with their personal history, but Klaus's connection to Elijah and the reality of what Klaus had lost. That had been made even more apparent tonight at dinner with their parents. Klaus no longer had Elijah to stand in his corner. Sure, Klaus had Kol and Rebekah, but they would never defend and look out for him the way that Elijah had; Klaus was on his own now. _

_Dragging her hands under her eyes to wipe away the tears, she shook her head. _

"I'm fine, really, okay?" she said guardedly, trying to fake a reassuring smile.

_She just wanted time to herself to grieve. She didn't need someone to burden with her feelings. It would only make her feel worse. _

"You don't have to pretend with me," he replied, "pretend that you're okay when you're clearly not."

_Shaking her head dismissively, she turned away. _

_He grabbed for her shoulder once more, but she shirked away from his touch. _

"I know what you're going through. You don't need to pretend to be strong for me out of some misguided obligation to protect me," he said, becoming a little more assertive. "You need to stop worrying so much about other people, Caroline, and allow yourself to worry a little more about you."

_Her jaw clenched and more tears fell as her eyelids fluttered. _

"I can't," she stated firmly, fighting the urge to give him what he wanted.

"Why not?" he challenged.

_She shook her head again defiantly as she picked up the remaining dress. _

"I don't want to feel the pain!" she snapped as she spun around to face him. "I don't want to be confronted with any of it," she cried angrily, struggling to lower the volume of her voice as she recalled Grayson asleep in the other room. "It hurts too much," she sobbed as the pain began to overtake her. "Everything in this room reminds me of them," she said bitterly, holding Elena's gray dress in front of her. "This dress tells me that I picked the wrong one for her," she sighed discontentedly, tossing the crumpled dress to the floor.

_She grabbed the framed photo from the nightstand that had been staring her down earlier. _

"This photo, this room, this entire house, is a nagging reminder of everything I've lost!" she nearly screamed, chucking the frame bitterly against the hardwood.

_The clear glass covering the photo shattered instantly, confronting her with what she had just done. _

_She gasped for air and nearly collapsed on the floor in an effort to collect the shards of glass and atone for her outburst, but Klaus caught her with his arms under his. _

_He pulled her back up despite her incoherent protests and physical attempts to break free from his hold. _

_Stepping back, he guided her down and sat with her on the bed. _

_She covered her face with her hands to stifle the sobs she had ceased trying to censor. _

_He draped his arm over her shoulders and encouraged her to lean against him. She felt oddly comforted by the gesture. _

"I just can't stop thinking," she complained. "I can't stop thinking about what might have happened had things been different. What if I came to watch Grayson earlier so that Elena and Elijah left earlier? What if I didn't cancel my plans this weekend to watch him for them?" she wondered. "Are we honouring Elijah and Elena's wishes? Are we doing the right thing for Grayson? Did we bathe him right? Are we feeding him properly? What if Elijah and Elena didn't want their celebration of life at the Grill? What if I picked the wrong dress for Elena?"

_Klaus sighed at all of her ceaseless concerns. _

"The dress you picked was fine," he said reassuringly.

"But it can't just be fine," she complained.

"I didn't mean it that way," he protested. "I'm sure Elena would have been happy with the choice you made."

_She chewed on her lip as she tried to convince herself of his last statement._

"They were supposed to come back tonight," she realized suddenly. "Today is Sunday. They should have been back tonight."

_Klaus tensed against her. _

_Perhaps that's why Elijah and Elena's deaths had felt so surreal over the past two days. She had been clinging to the hope that this was all a nightmare; that Elijah and Elena would come walking through the door when she expected them to return. They hadn't. _

"They're not coming back," she whimpered against his shirt.

_Klaus released a pained sigh. _

"No, they're not," Klaus confirmed shakily.

_She cried a little more. _

"Grayson is alone," she said.

_Klaus tightened his arm around her. _

"No, he has us," Klaus argued, brushing a few stray strands of hair from her face.

_She sat up and looked at him worriedly. _

"For how long though?" she wondered. "What if your parents try to take him away from us?" she panicked.

_The thought alone made her feel nauseous. _

"They won't," Klaus said decidedly.

"But what if they do?" she pressed. "I completely screwed up tonight."

"You didn't screw up tonight any more than I did," he reassured her. "You were perfect. You were looking out for Grayson. That's what we're supposed to do now."

_Still feeling dejected, she looked away from him disbelievingly. _

_He clutched her face in his hands unexpectedly._

"Caroline, listen to me. They might try to take him, but they won't succeed. They won't take Grayson away from us, I promise you," he said. "I won't let that happen."

* * *

**A/N: So, what did you think?  
**

** despite all the doom and gloom, Caroline and Klaus are probably at a better point in their 'relationship' than they ever have been. I hope that was made clear since that was my overarching intention. **

**That said, Klaus and Caroline have a habit of taking one step forward and two steps back, so be prepared! Feel free to speculate… **

**Speaking of doom and gloom, I know it's depressing. I apologize. However, given the circumstances, it's the mood that has to be conveyed right now. Once the funeral stuff has been dealt with, I hope to establish more of a balance and incorporate a lighter mood. I did say though that despite this story being based upon 'Life As We Know It' it will be a little darker and less cheesy/comedic/upbeat. Please be patient. More happy stuff is coming eventually. **

**I haven't written any of the next chapter yet, but it will centre around the burial and the celebration of life. Mikael and Esther will be returning. Sage and Finn will be making a tiny appearance. New characters will be introduced. Caroline's reasons for returning to Mystic Falls will be alluded to/revealed. And as I said, Klaus and Caroline's relationship will face some not so new challenges. **


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Hey all! Here is a little less than half the update I promised you. I had to split it up because the chapter was just getting too long, and I felt like this part could standalone on its own - and that it probably should considering the events in it that take place. **

**I'd like to thank you all for reading and reviewing. **

**I am currently in the process of working on the last part of chapter 8, so I intend to update sooner rather than later. **

**As usual, shout out to my excellent beta and tumblr wifey, livingdeadblondegirl. She always gets my work back to me so promptly even when I'm slacking on hers. **

**This is a sad chapter, so you've been warned. Like I said, once the funeral stuff is over the mood will get a little lighter. Bear with me please!**

* * *

_The early morning sun peering through the windows downstairs served as a natural alarm clock for him. A part of him was actually looking forward to Bonnie and Kol's departure so he could return to the sofa bed upstairs and at least have a decent shot at sleep. Though he knew regardless of where he slept, the night would always be restless. _

_His mind was constantly on, dwelling on the past, thinking about Elijah, obsessing over the silence from Grayson's nursery. By the time he woke up, he felt more mentally exhausted than he had before he tried to sleep. It was like he had been thinking the entire night. _

_He sat up from the couch and wiped his sleep encrusted eyes. The house was completely silent. Everyone else must still be sleeping, he assumed. _

_The silence became deafening as he glanced into the living room and then behind him into the kitchen. _

_A part of him still expected to see Elijah in the kitchen making coffee and Elena carrying Grayson around. _

_It was those moments where he felt like he was having an out of body experience, watching a terrible nightmare unfold. _

_It was those moments where he felt like he didn't belong here. _

_He felt like he was intruding. _

_This wasn't his home. This was Elena's childhood home that she and Elijah had adopted as their own with Grayson. _

_Then it would dawn on him, as it had a hundred times; that Elijah and Elena were no longer here. _

_He let out a sharp sigh. _

_No matter how many times he thought about it, it never hurt any less. It never made him feel any less sick to his stomach. _

_Today would make Elena and Elijah's permanent absence even more of a reality. _

_He dreaded this day more than any other. _

_It pained him to think about his brother and his sister-in-law being lowered six feet underground. _

_In a way, it was incomprehensible. _

_How could he conceive of two deceased bodies being lowered into the ground that just a few days ago had been two living and breathing people that had been so important to him? Who were still so important to him? _

_He had felt the same way when they buried Henrik. _

_A part of him didn't even want to go. He didn't want to see Elena and Elijah buried underground. He didn't want to see his parents feign grief over it. He didn't want to see Rebekah or Kol mourn as it happened. He didn't want to hear Caroline cry again. Mostly though, he didn't think he could bear to see Grayson there - completely innocent and unaware of what was happening. _

_The pain of it would all would only turn to annoyance come the afternoon when he would be forced to accept the condolences of old acquaintances and strangers he had never met before. _

_He didn't like the idea of his grief being made a spectacle of for people to come and witness. It seemed barbaric. _

_He would much rather grieve alone; to sip some of Elijah's favourite Scotch, while listening to some of the music they had grown up listening to as teenagers, and pouring his emotion onto a blank page or canvas. _

_Tuning out was no longer a luxury he had, as Caroline had sternly reminded him the other day. He was no longer responsible for just himself - but Grayson as well. Time to himself would be rare. _

_It was a sacrifice he knew he had to make. There were a lot of sacrifices he was going to have to make, he thought, glancing over at his half empty pack of cigarettes on the side table. Last night, however, affirmed for him that they would be worth it if it meant they ensured Grayson would remain out of his parents' care. When he promised Caroline that he refused to let his parents take Grayson away from them, he meant it. _

_He stood up from the couch and decided he should probably grab a shower before anyone else claimed the bathroom. Nobody wanted to use Elijah and Elena's ensuite. He grabbed his supplies that he still refused to unpack from his luggage along with his black suit pants and shirt. _

_The dinner had unfolded as he expected it would, he thought as he headed for the stairs. He anticipated his father's scathing remarks and his mother's judgemental attitude. He predicted what their reactions would be regarding the will and Grayson. At least in that way, he hadn't been disappointed. _

_When he reached the top of the stairs, he glanced at the closed door to the room Caroline was staying in. _

_Caroline had been disappointed, though. She was always so optimistic, trying to see the positive side of every situation. She had hoped that maybe Mikael and Esther would be receptive to the new arrangements, that maybe they could convince his parents. That hadn't happened. _

_The dissonance between her expectations and reality had resulted in her walking out of the restaurant. He didn't blame her. She was not as accustomed to dealing with his parents as he was. He felt guilty; as though he should have done more to protect her even though he really had no direct obligation to her. Rebekah had gone after her though when he had hesitated. _

_Caroline's disappointment with how the night had gone, combined with everything else, had ultimately culminated in her unexpected break down in front of him once they returned home. _

_Her devastation had filled him with an unexplainable sense of anxiety and trepidation. _

_It unnerved him to see the person he thought had it together best crack. He wasn't accustomed to seeing her so upset. _

_She hid her pain well. _

_The fact that she had chose to reveal her pain to him was both assuaging and unnerving. _

_Though her sadness frightened him, shockingly his first instinct had not been to flee from the situation and leave her alone. Instead, he had been compelled to comfort her. _

_Comforting someone was not something he made a habit out of. He hated being confronted with anyone's emotions - particularly his own. _

_But for some reason, with her, he couldn't help himself. He chalked it up to a sense of guilt over the way his parents had treated her, as though he was responsible for their actions. _

_After he had made his promise to her to keep his parents away from Grayson, she cried awhile longer, before he encouraged her to go to bed early. She heeded his advice, leaving him in Elena and Elijah's room for her own. She had been there ever since. _

_It had crossed his mind to wake her up - knowing that she would probably be annoyed if she was left to sleep in, especially today - but he decided against it. He was sure it would annoy her more to have him knocking on the door or entering her room to wake her. It would probably be overstepping some sort of boundary they hadn't had time to set up yet. He would leave it for Bonnie to handle. _

_He turned away from her closed door and entered the bathroom. He peered quietly into Grayson's room before his shower to ensure he was still asleep; luckily for him, he was._

* * *

_Barely out of the shower for ten minutes, Kol started to bang incessantly on the door to be let in. _

_He finished quickly before unlocking the door to the hall. _

_Kol burst in, sparing no formalities, before seating himself on the toilet. _

"I think that spicy chicken I ate last night has gotten the better of me," Kol groaned.

_He cursed his brother before slipping into Grayson's room, shutting the bathroom door behind him. _

_He was startled to see Caroline at the change table with Grayson. _

"Kol really isn't one for subtlety is he?" Caroline mused as she fixed a new diaper to Grayson's bottom.

"No," he replied, smiling slightly. "Did Grayson wake you up?" he wondered, noticing the way her hair was hastily put into a messy bun and the pyjama pants and tank top she was wearing.

_She shook her head. _

"I've been awake for awhile. I heard the shower start and I figured it was probably time to wake Grayson up and get him ready," she shrugged, glancing at him.

_Her eyes appeared swollen from the tears she had shed the night before. _

"That way he'll be taken care of so I can get ready and we can get everything else ready for today," she explained.

"What else needs to be done?" he asked.

"Not a lot, but I just assumed that your family and Elena's family would probably be coming over here in between the burial and the Grill, so I wanted to clean up a little and maybe put a tray of food together," she suggested.

"Can I help?" he offered, knowing what her response would be.

_She shook her head. _

"It's okay," she assured him. "Bonnie will give me a hand with the food."

_He sighed in protest as she buttoned up Grayson's white onesie. _

"You could take care of Grayson," she finally relented, "Keep him occupied."

_He nodded readily, taking Caroline's place in front of the change table as she rummaged through his closet and dresser for appropriate clothing. _

_She returned with little socks, black jean-like pants and a small white collared button up shirt. _

"I guess this will have to suffice for today," Caroline sighed. "This was Elena's favourite dressy outfit to dress Grayson in," she informed him. "It's really the only dressy thing he has to wear."

_He bit the inside of his cheek as Grayson looked up at the both of them unknowingly. _

_Caroline began putting his chubby little legs into the pants. _

_He doubted that it had ever entered Elena's mind that Grayson would be wearing this outfit to her own funeral. _

_The realization that they were dressing Grayson for his own parents' funeral made him cringe. _

_Judging by the pained expression on Caroline's face, he could tell the same realization was confronting her as well. _

_A part of him was relieved that Grayson was oblivious to what was going on. Sure, he was certain Grayson probably felt the absence of Elena and Elijah, but he was too young to fully experience the pain of the loss. Another part of him felt sorry that Grayson would never get to know either of his parents. He wondered if the pain of never knowing them at all would be worse than the pain of loving them and losing them? He supposed he wouldn't know. The reality of the situation was that Grayson had lost both of his parents before he was even a year old. _

_He took the shirt off the changing table before Caroline could get to it, and urged a squirmy Grayson to put his arms into the sleeves. _

"We're probably gonna have to cover this shirt with a sweater or something if we want to keep it clean," he said casually.

_He was not expecting the shaky sigh from Caroline's lips in response. _

_She looked away when he looked over at her. _

"Remember what I said yesterday night?" he said as he began to do the buttons up on Grayson's shirt.

_Caroline was quiet. _

"You don't have to pretend with me," he encouraged her. "Especially me, now that we're raising Grayson together."

_She sniffled and ran her hands under her eyes to keep her tears at bay. _

"I'm fine," she stated firmly.

_He glared at her incredulously. _

"We both know that's bullshit. Last night made that clear," he breathed. "You're hurting...grieving."

"So is everyone else," she retorted.

_She was stubborn to a fault. _

"Yes," he acknowledged, "we're all going through the same thing. That means you can talk to us...to me," he offered. "You don't have to keep what you're feeling bottled up."

"Neither do you," she countered with a critical stare.

_He hated when people tried to turn his own advice back onto himself. _

_Grayson started to whimper and fidget. _

_He looked back at her persistently. _

"Klaus, I'm fine, okay? I'll be fine. Just leave it alone," she urged him, handing him the sweater Grayson had worn yesterday night.

_Relenting to her insistence, he nodded passively as he took the sweater and picked Grayson up from the change table. _

"I'll take him downstairs," he informed her. "Go get ready."

* * *

_The bright sun in the sky was deceiving._

_A heavy wind and the remaining snow on the ground told the real story. _

_It was still cold outside. _

_He had to resort to borrowing one of Elijah's scarves and a pair of his gloves. Having packed hastily before he left, bringing winter apparel - save for his coat - had not even dawned on him. He hadn't even packed sunglasses to shield his eyes from the sun. _

_Since the ground had barely begun to thaw, special equipment had to be brought in to dig the holes for Elena and Elijah's caskets; the holes that they were now standing in front of as Elena and Elijah's caskets rested above, waiting to be lowered down into them. Their shared headstone was already in place. It was torturous to read their names, but especially the birthdates. They were both so young. _

_Caroline stood to his right, dressed warmly in a black overcoat and a knitted hat. Her oversized black sunglasses hid the pain in her eyes, but he could still decipher the path her tears had taken down her cheeks. She was holding tightly onto Grayson who was bundled snugly into a blue snowsuit. _

_He clenched his jaw, feeling inclined to say something to Caroline but unable to find any words. _

_Bonnie and Kol were standing to his left. Kol had a warm arm wrapped around Bonnie as they both stood in silence. _

_Elena's uncle and aunt both stood with their respective spouses across from them. He had said little to them since their arrival; Caroline had done most of the talking. Surprisingly, none of them had raised much of an issue when it came to the will or custody of Grayson. Unlike his parents, they seemed to respect Elena and Elijah's wishes and trusted their judgement. _

_The funeral director and two of his employees were quietly discussing something off to the side. _

_They were all awaiting the arrival of his parents, along with Rebekah, Finn, Sage, and their children. _

_Rebekah had texted him earlier informing him of their mother's overdramatic - most likely liquor fueled - break down in her hotel suite earlier this morning. He suspected that it probably had something to do with their lateness. His parents always had a way of making something that had little to do with them all about them in the end. _

_They embarrassed him, especially in front of Elena's distant relatives who were all impatiently waiting for the burial to begin. _

"Grayson shouldn't stay out here much longer," Caroline said to him.

"Then we'll have it start without them," he stated decidedly.

_After a few more minutes of waiting - mainly for Rebekah's sake - he was ready to interrupt the funeral director's conversation to begin the burial, when two cars pulled up on the small road that weaved through the cemetery. _

_He saw both his mother and father step out of the first car, along with Rebekah. He scowled at the sight of his mother in a gaudy black fur coat. _

_Finn and Sage stepped out of the second vehicle with Liam and Emma close behind. They had grown since he'd seen them last - Elijah and Elena's wedding being the last time. Admittedly, he hadn't been a very involved uncle with them, not like he had been in the past six months with Grayson. He surmised it had something to do with his strained relationship with Finn and the distance more than anything else. As he watched them approach, he couldn't help but compare them to Grayson. In only a few years Grayson would be as Liam and Emma were now. It amazed him and scared the hell out of him all at once. _

_Once they arrived, Mikael and Esther brushed by both him and Caroline without so much as a word - not even to Grayson. They offered no apology for their late arrival. _

_Finn and Sage gave him a subdued and quiet greeting before offering Caroline the same, lingering a minute longer with her to see Grayson. _

_Rebekah was holding onto Liam and Emma's hands as she walked them up to the burial site. They stood beside Kol, who was the only familiar uncle to them here. _

_When everyone was quietly settled, the funeral director - who also served as their celebrant - stepped forward to begin the burial. _

_It was such a surreal moment for him that barely any of the words said registered with him. He was sure a few reflections were made on the kind of people Elijah and Elena were and the kind of parents they hoped to be for Grayson. A few prayers were also spoken. However, his mind had been preoccupied by memories he shared with Elijah. _

_While there were a few from when they were older - drunken nights spent at the beach carelessly lighting off fireworks - most were confined to the childhood they had shared together - bike riding, fort building, and soccer playing. While it hadn't always been pleasant, they had worked with what they had. Elijah had not only been his brother but also his best friend. _

_It was no longer the wind and cold air making his eyes sting and well with water. _

_The longer he thought about Elijah, the harder he stared between both caskets and Grayson, the more difficult it became to hold back the tears that were threatening to fall. _

_Caroline was weeping beside him as she stood alone with Grayson, and from what he could tell, all of the other women were crying too, his mother included. _

_It almost angered him to see his mother cry. Sure, she had birthed Elijah and raised him to some extent, but she had barely been a mother to any of them. What right did she have to mourn his loss so painfully? She hardly knew Elijah. _

_Though his father's stoic reaction seemed cold and heartless, it was more appropriate coming from him. He respected it more than his mother's fake act of devastation. At least he didn't pretend to have any heartbreaking emotion over the loss of a son he had virtually no relationship with. _

_Given the nature of the weather, the director's words were short, but affective. He was able to put into succinct words what those closest to them wanted to say to honour Elijah and Elena but weren't capable of at the time. There was no way he'd be able to say anything remotely coherent about his brother or Elena in front of their final resting place without breaking down. Having the director summarize their thoughts and memories of Elijah and Elena was easier and he was much more eloquent than any of them would ever be. _

_At the end of the short service, they were all handed two roses to place atop both caskets. _

_They all took turns, starting with Elena's relatives. _

_To his surprise, his parents participated in the symbolic gesture without complaint or issue. _

_When it was his turn, he moved solemnly towards Elena's casket first, placing his rose with the others before reluctantly moving towards Elijah's. _

_He paused in front of the casket and stared down at it for a few moments. _

_The sight effectively confirmed to him that his brother was gone and really wasn't coming back. _

_Biting the edge of his lip, he rubbed his gloved hand over his face. _

"I love you, brother," he whispered under his breath, a stray tear or two falling from his eyes as he dropped the single flower atop the rest.

_Both Kol and Rebekah patted him on the back as he returned to his place and nodded towards Caroline to take her turn. _

_He watched as she headed for Elijah's casket first. She leaned down with Grayson to place one rose for herself and another for Grayson. _

_Rebekah whimpered beside him at the sight and it was all he could do to keep himself from doing the same. _

_The real tragedy in all of this was that Elijah and Elena had left behind their son. Their deaths had seen to it that Grayson would never know his parents beyond home videos, photographs, and second-hand recollections. _

_Caroline then turned for Elena's casket, breaking down the moment she began her approach. _

_He winced as she let out a few restrained sobs. _

_She extended her hand, placing both roses with the others, as Grayson seemed to reach out for them. _

_Grayson's coincidental gesture seemed to provoke an even more intense response from Caroline, who began to cry harder. _

_He looked away briefly before reluctantly pushing himself forwards. _

_Meeting Bonnie half way, he took Grayson from Caroline as Bonnie wrapped her arms around her friend, pulling her back gradually from Elena's casket. _

_They didn't stay behind to watch the caskets be lowered into the ground. It was advised against anyways in case there were any mechanical mishaps. _

_So, as Caroline retreated back to the car alone - having urged Bonnie to stay behind - he with Grayson, Kol, Bonnie, and Rebekah decided to pay a brief visit to another headstone a few rows over. _

_Obviously having had the same idea, his parents, along with Finn, Sage, Liam, and Emma, were already there. _

_The black headstone, etched with some of his favourite comic book characters, had been selected by Henrik himself. He had helped him design it before he passed. _

_He sighed as his eyes travelled over the dates: January 14__th__ 1994 - January 27__th__ 2007. _

_Henrik was yet another - another brother - who had lost his life way too soon. _

"It's nice to see you had the decency to come pay your respects to your dear brother Henrik," Esther said to them.

_He rolled his eyes as he shielded Grayson's face from the wind and made sure his hands were tucked securely inside his snow suit. _

"Where's Caroline?" Mikael asked, with his trademark critical tone.

"Talking to Elena's relatives, I think," Bonnie stepped in, covering for her absence, even though it was unnecessary.

_Mikael was not owed an explanation. _

_He looked back down at the headstone guiltily. It hadn't even been ten years yet and he was already starting to forget; forget the way Henrik's cracking pubescent voice sounded; the way he laughed; the way he looked. Sometimes he would come up blank when he tried to imagine him. As time went by he found it increasingly difficult to draw Henrik from memory as he had done so many times before. He wondered if in time his memory of Elijah and Elena would begin to fade in the same way. _

"This is where Elijah should have been buried," Mikael snarled, "with his family. Not in some Gilbert family plot. Elijah wasn't a Gilbert; he was a Mikaelson."

_All of them shot cold glares in his father's direction for such callous remarks. _

"Elena was Elijah's wife," he said in his brother's defence. "He wanted to be buried beside her. I think Henrik would understand."

_Mikael snarled under his breath. _

"I'm sure Elijah and Henrik are together in spirit," Finn interjected, trying to alleviate the hostile tension he and his father had a habit of creating.

_It would do nothing to stop either of them. Mikael always had to have the last word and he always had to prevent him from getting it. _

_After last night and this morning, that desire was only intensified. The anger he felt towards his father had never been more persistent. _

"Elijah always was ashamed of us," Mikael seethed.

_He scoffed. _

"No, Father, only of you," he corrected, taking one final moment to himself for Henrik before turning on his heel and heading back towards the car.

_Confusion struck him when Caroline wasn't waiting for them in the car like he had thought she would be. He tried opening one of the doors but it was locked and Caroline had the keys. _

_He glanced down both directions of the small cemetery road but saw no one. Elena's relatives were gone. Their vehicle, along with the ones his parents and Finn and Sage had arrived in, were the only ones there. _

_Circling back towards Elena and Elijah's graves, assuming she would be there, the only people he saw were the cemetery groundskeepers and the funeral home employees. _

_He stopped to regain his bearings. _

_Shielding his eyes from the sun, he scanned the cemetery for Caroline's whereabouts. She couldn't have gone far without a vehicle, on foot in heeled boots no less. He hadn't even been standing at Henrik's headstone for more than a few minutes. _

_That's when he caught sight of her in the distance, six or seven rows down, standing beside a tall pine tree. _

_He switched a half-awake Grayson to his other arm, noticing how heavy he was becoming holding him for an extended period of time before trekking towards Caroline. _

_When he realized that she was standing in front of a headstone, he slowed, hanging back a few feet. _

_She didn't know he was standing there. The fact that she was openly crying told him as much. _

_He moved a little closer, enough to discern who the headstone belonged to. _

_Elizabeth Pamela Forbes, May 3__rd__ 1964 - December 18__th__ 2011. _

_He sucked in a quiet breath as he began to put two and two together. _

_Elizabeth Forbes was Caroline's mom, if he recalled correctly. He knew her better though through her employment with the Mystic Falls Police Department. He had been an occasional visitor there as a teenager and knew most of the officers then by name. Just before he had skipped town Caroline's mom had been promoted to Sheriff. _

_He thought back to his past conversations with Caroline, searching for a time when she might have mentioned her parents - or at least her mom. He was sure she never had, and he was confident that he had never asked. He hadn't thought to. Their connection had slipped his mind at the time. Talk of his chaotic family had overshadowed any talk of hers, but then he was certain that she had probably also avoided the topic for reasons that had now been made clear to him. _

_Something tragic had happened to Caroline's mother, given her age, and he suspected that it - more so than her break up with Tyler - was the cause of Caroline's return to Mystic Falls. _

_Grayson let out an unexpected burst of babble, effectively tipping Caroline off that they had been standing behind her. _

_As she turned around, her body froze like a bewildered deer caught in headlights. _

_She glanced back at her mother's headstone before looking back at him, realizing that he had noticed who she was crying over. _

_Wiping her eyes underneath the frames of her sunglasses, she tried with some difficulty to regain her composure in front of him. _

"Are you ready to go?" he asked simply, ignoring the topic of her mother.

_She nodded with a small appreciative smile._

* * *

**Reviews are always welcomed and greatly appreciated. Just sayin' guys... **

**Next up (and I promise) in chapter 8: Caroline finds she has an unexpected ally, Klaus and Caroline each have their own encounters with Mikael and Esther, Klaroline has a moment with Grayson, past characters are reintroduced, a new character comes aboard, and Klaus and Caroline have a bit of a set back. dun dun dun. **


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: So I'm back with a two part update (the second part will be uploaded later today/tonight once I finish editing it) I hope that makes up for the delay :D **

**Thanks for reading and reviewing the last chapter. I know it was a sad one. **

**Also, a HUGE thank you to my beta who edited nearly 40 pages of writing for me (chapter 8 and 9 combined). **

**These two updates took a long time to write because so much thought and planning went into them. I would love it if you let me know what you thought at the end of each, or at least chapter 9. Pretty please?**

* * *

_When they arrived back at the house, she retreated upstairs. _

_Bonnie had assured her that she and Kol would make up some punch and put out the snack platters they had prepared earlier. _

_Klaus had tacitly took responsibility for Grayson, removing him from his car seat before she had a chance to offer. _

_He had given her a silent look of understanding, even though she could see the concern and questioning in his eyes after having found her in front of a very particular grave. _

_She had not pressed him before for details about Henrik though, so she expected him to do the same when it came to her mother. _

_It wasn't something she wanted to talk about. _

_She had barely talked about it with Elena and Bonnie since it had happened. _

_Upstairs, she escaped to her bedroom, closing the door and falling back on the bed. _

_The black wool dress she had on was making her skin itchy and she tossed on the bed a bit before finding a comfortable position. She considered changing, but it was the only dress she had here with her after stopping off at her apartment yesterday. _

_She wasn't planning on napping, but she needed a time out after this morning. She needed to catch her breath. She hadn't anticipated that Elijah and Elena's burial would trudge up feelings over her mother's passing. _

_A part of her wanted to stay upstairs the rest of the afternoon and hide. She didn't want to face Klaus's parents again, she just wanted them gone. _

_She didn't want to be confronted with a hundred unfamiliar faces who wanted to tell her how sorry they were. _

_She didn't even want to be confronted with Klaus, especially after last night and this morning. She couldn't believe how pathetic she had been in front of him. She hated that he was able to see right through her facade. She hated that she had been so emotional in front of him. She resented even more the fact that he had been able to console her. _

_Then there was his persistence on the issue this morning and him finding her at her mother's grave. She felt like he was trespassing; seeing the part of her she didn't let anyone see without her permission. It made her feel uneasy and uncomfortable._

_Going through the messages on her phone, she read a few old ones that had been exchanged between her and Elena. They were difficult to read and she considered deleting them, but she couldn't bring herself to do it. Just like she couldn't bring herself to discard of Elena's dresses. _

_Staring up at the ceiling for a good half-hour or so, she reflected on all the memories she had shared with Elena in this room. Sleepovers, cram sessions for finals, gossip, boy talk, everything. _

_She could hear more voices downstairs and assumed that the rest of the Mikaelsons had arrived, along with Elena's relatives. _

_Not wanting her absence to garner her unwanted attention, she wiped her eyes and headed for the bathroom to fix her makeup. _

_After completely redoing her eye makeup and applying a faint shade of pink lip gloss she stepped out of the bathroom reluctantly and headed for the stairs. _

_As she descended, her eyes widened at who she saw at the bottom. _

_Carol and Richard Lockwood were standing with Mikael and Esther. With their coats still on, the Lockwoods looked like they had just arrived. _

_The presence of the Lockwoods confused her. She was sure she hadn't extended an invitation to them. This open house of sorts was to be confined to family and close friends of Elijah and Elena only. The celebration of life at the Grill was open to everyone. _

_She contemplated turning back upstairs, but Carol had caught sight of her before she could. _

"Caroline, honey," Carol said to her sympathetically.

_She sighed under her breath, mustering her best fake smile as she reached the bottom. _

_Both Carol and Richard offered her hugs and condolences as Mikael and Esther watched curiously. _

"I'm so sorry, sweetie. I know how close you and Elena were. God, this must be so difficult for you after everything," Carol said, alluding to her mother's passing.

_Her mother and Carol had been friends through high school. They had also both been friends with Elena's mother, Miranda. _

_She nodded absently to Carol as she peered into the living room, noticing Rebekah on the floor with Grayson and Emma. Elena's uncle John and her aunt Jenna were looking through a photo album. _

"I brought over some salads and casseroles. They're in the fridge and the freezer. Is there anything else Richard and I can do for you?" Carol asked.

"Oh no, Carol, that's not necessary. Mikael and I are perfectly capable," Esther interrupted.

_She ignored Esther and smiled at Carol politely. _

"Thanks," she said.

_Carol glanced over at Grayson and shook her head regretfully. _

"It's like history repeating," Carol sighed, referring to Elena's parents. "He's lost both his parents. It's tragic."

_She nodded. _

"Who will care for him...now, permanently?" Richard asked hesitantly, looking at her, Mikael, and Esther.

"We've been hearing a dozen stories around town," Carol clarified.

_Biting her lip, she tried her best to avoid the expectant glares from Mikael and Esther. _

"I will be," she said confidently.

"With Niklaus," Esther said incredulously, before she had a chance to tell Carol for herself.

_Both Carol and Richard gave her confused looks. _

"Elena and Elijah wanted both of us to raise him," she explained, "that's what we're going to do."

_Suddenly, Carol seemed disappointed. _

"I wasn't aware you were seeing someone. I thought you said Klaus lives in New York?" Carol mentioned, directing her attention to Mikael and Esther.

"He does live in New York. Caroline and my son may have had a fling in the past, but they certainly aren't seeing each other now," Mikael sneered. "That's what's ridiculous about this whole thing. Clearly Elijah and Elena didn't think this through."

_The Lockwoods seemed to focus upon her now for her perspective. _

"Klaus and I are going to share custody of Grayson. Klaus is going to stay here in Mystic Falls for a while so that we can deal with everything. We want to try to honour Elijah and Elena's wishes. They were close with both of us; they wanted us both to be here for him," she reaffirmed. "We want to make it work."

"Well it's a little unorthodox," Carol relented, to the satisfaction of the Mikaelsons, "but I think that your decision to honour Elena and Elijah's wishes is very admirable. I'm sure they would be happy. I know your mother would be proud. If anyone can make it work, it's you, Caroline," she said encouragingly.

_Both Mikael and Esther's smug grins turned to frowns and she smiled a little, having received a small boost of confidence from Carol's unexpected support. _

_She could hear Mikael snort quietly under his breath. _

"It's not going to be easy," Mikael said pessimistically, though expressing his opinion more reservedly than he had last night.

_The presence of the Lockwoods obviously had something to do with that. He was clearly trying to save face with them. _

"Caroline and Klaus are practically kids themselves. They're being thrust into parenthood unprepared and with unstable financial resources. It's probably not an ideal situation for Grayson's sake," Mikael sighed regretfully, as though he genuinely cared about what was best for Grayson.

_Carol and Richard appeared as though they were considering Mikael's points. _

"Elena was Caroline's age when she had Grayson," Carol pointed out in her defence.

"Is anyone ever prepared for parenthood?" Richard laughed.

_Carol laughed alongside him, and although Mikael and Esther humoured them with small smiles, neither of them seemed amused. _

"Caroline is a responsible and intelligent young woman. I wish our son Tyler hadn't been so careless with her," Carol sighed. "She'll be wonderful with Grayson. Plus, I don't think you need to be concerned about money with the way Caroline's store has taken off in the past year. Have you seen any of the dresses she's made?" Carol asked Esther enthusiastically.

_Esther shook her head slowly. _

"Elena's wedding dress, I suppose," Esther said, faking interest.

"She made the dress I wore to Richard's re-election party. She's making my dress for the masquerade fundraiser. She's also doing the dresses for Miss Mystic Falls which we're organizing together. She's amazingly talented," Carol bragged for her.

_She tensed anxiously. _

_Carol looked at her apologetically. _

"I'm sorry, sweetie," Carol said, "I don't want to stress you out. It's only if you still want to do them. I know you have a lot on your plate now."

_Carol's concern was a welcome contrast to Mikael and Esther's anger and indifference. _

_She shook her head. _

"It's not that," she admitted vaguely, she just didn't like Carol bragging about her so much in front of Mikael and Esther.

_With the suspicious way they were looking at her, it was as though they suspected her of putting Carol up to it. _

"As the Mikaelson's pointed out, I do need the work now more than ever," she said with a snide tone that only Esther and Mikael would pick up on. "Besides, it will keep me busy."

_Carol gave her a satisfied smile. _

"Grayson will keep you busy," Mikael pointed out.

_She nodded. _

"What will you do with him when you're at work? Have you talked to the hospital daycare at all?" Carol wondered.

_She shrugged nervously at the question. She hadn't even thought about daycare at this point. _

"Klaus will be here during the day. He's hoping to work on some of his paintings from here, or maybe pick up a few new local jobs," she recovered.

_Mikael scoffed dismissively. _

"Didn't you say that Klaus was beginning to make a name for himself in New York?" Carol asked enthusiastically.

_Both Esther and Mikael nodded reluctantly. _

"I don't think you have anything to worry about," Carol said to Mikael and Esther reassuringly. "They sound like they'll be more than capable of taking care of Grayson."

_Richard shrugged. _

"And if Klaus's business from New York doesn't translate here, the Historical Society as a few paintings that are in need of restoration - if he's interested and capable," Richard offered.

_She had been dreading talking to Carol and Richard with Mikael and Esther the moment she saw them all at the bottom of the stairs. Now, she was happy she didn't turn around to hide. Their conversation had seemed to work in her favour. _

"That's very kind of you, Richard," Esther said politely, though she could see the annoyance in Esther's eyes.

"I'll be sure to run it by Klaus," she told Richard, just as a knock at the front door sounded.

_Excusing herself, she went for the door. _

_It was Stefan and Meredith. _

_She gave them both small hugs and appreciative greetings. _

"Sorry we couldn't make it this morning. Meredith had emergency surgery and I had to be in court," Stefan apologized.

"It's okay. We understand...I'm sure Elena and Elijah understand too," she assured them.

_Meredith handed her a basket of baked goods, which she took thankfully. However, it was the briefcase in Stefan's hand that had caught her eye and unsettled her. _

_She noticed Klaus standing in the living room beside Rebekah, looking into the hall curiously. _

"Stefan Salvatore, just the man I wanted to see," Mikael said enthusiastically, as though his last hope had just walked through the door.

_Stefan glanced at them helplessly. _

"Excuse us," Mikael said to the Lockwoods.

_Carol and Richard assured them that it was okay; that they just wanted to stop in to offer their condolences and now had other business to attend to. _

_The Lockwoods and the Mikaelsons exchanged pleasantries before Carol and Richard turned to say good-bye to her. _

"Tyler sends his regards, by the way," Carol said as she hugged her once more.

"He wanted to be here, but you know how Washington is," Richard said.

_She nodded politely, though indifferent to Tyler's well wishes. _

"Let us know if there's anything you need," Carol urged her.

"I will," she told her.

"We'll be in touch," Carol said, as Richard opened the front door for her.

_With the Lockwoods gone, Mikael turned eagerly towards Stefan. _

"Come, Esther and I have some legal matters we would like to discuss with you," Mikael urged him, opening one of the French doors into the formal dining room.

_Stefan followed Mikael and Esther reluctantly as Mikael asked him casually about his father. _

_Esther shut the doors behind them, leaving her standing bewilderedly with Meredith in the front hall as Klaus and Rebekah watched from the living room._

* * *

_His eyes lingered a little longer on the closed doors. _

_Meredith gave him a sympathetic smile before following Caroline into the kitchen. _

"What's that about, Nik?" Rebekah said from the floor with Grayson in her lap. "What would they be talking to Stefan about?"

_He leaned against the arm of the sofa with a shrug, looking over his shoulder briefly waiting for Elena's relatives to leave the living room before he decided to speak. _

"Father said he intended to discuss the contents of the will with Stefan. I assume that's what they're talking about," he concluded.

_Rebekah's face contorted in the midst of a game of peek-a-boo with Grayson. _

"What is there to discuss though? The will is what Elijah and Elena wanted," Rebekah said.

"They can contest the will if they want," he informed her. "Or certain parts," he emphasized, staring down at Grayson, bouncing against Rebekah's leg.

_His sister looked up at him suddenly concerned, seemingly unaware of Grayson tugging at her ponytail. _

"You think they are going to contest the custody arrangement?" Rebekah wondered worriedly.

_He dropped his hands against his sides with uncertainty. _

"They weren't exactly thrilled to hear that Caroline and I were listed as Grayson's guardians. It wouldn't surprise me," he admitted, suddenly feeling anxious at the prospect that his mother and father taking him and Caroline to court over the matter.

_As a lawyer himself, his father was well connected. He had no doubt in his mind that his father could wrangle together the most specialized attorneys to help him. _

_That reality was still daunting despite Stefan. _

_His promise to Caroline crossed his mind. _

_Rebekah shook her head in protest. _

"Grayson belongs here though, with you and Caroline," Rebekah stated determinedly. "That's what Elijah and Elena wanted."

"Let's hope a judge sees it that way if they decide to contest," he said warily.

_Rebekah nodded distractedly as she made smiley faces at Grayson. _

"How is Caroline holding up? She's been unusually quiet. Have you talked to her at all?" Rebekah inquired, as though he had access to some inside information.

_He really didn't. After this morning he didn't want to overstep. _

"I've tried," he admitted, garnering a small smile from Rebekah. "After last night, she's worried about the custody thing, and I think Elijah and Elena being gone is just kind of hitting her now," he suspected, leaving out the part about finding Caroline mourning over her mother's grave. "Plus, there's the funeral plans, all while adjusting to Grayson. She's probably just feeling a little overwhelmed."

"How are you holding up? Are you feeling overwhelmed?" Rebekah asked.

"I miss them," he shrugged.

"So do I," Rebekah agreed. "I'm going to miss Skyping with them and Grayson," she sighed.

"We can still Skype. You can still Skype with Grayson," he tried to reassure her.

_Rebekah nodded as things fell silent between them with both of them waiting anxiously to know what was said between their parents and Stefan. _

"It's going to be a big adjustment for you," Rebekah mentioned off-hand. "Raising Grayson," she clarified.

"It already has been," he confessed.

"Are you sure you can handle it, Nik?" Rebekah wondered.

_He shrugged undoubtedly. _

"It's not going to be easy," he admitted, "but I wouldn't be standing here if I didn't think I could. It's the least I can do for Elijah," he said, thinking about how much he truly did owe his older brother.

_Rebekah smiled. _

"And Caroline?" she asked.

_He glanced down at her dumbfounded. _

"What about her?" he asked.

"I've just been noticing..." she trailed off.

"Noticing what?" he asked with annoyance clear in his voice, wishing his sister would make her point.

_She smiled playfully. _

"The way you look at her...the way you are with her," she observed.

_He cringed and gave her a critical stare. _

"You care about her," Rebekah noted.

_Rolling his eyes, he glared down at her. _

"Since when is that a crime? Considering our circumstances, I don't think that's unusual," he said.

"I never said there was anything wrong with it," Rebekah shrugged coyly.

_He grimaced. _

"Are you sure you can handle living with her though?" she laughed. "The only real girl you've ever lived with in your life is me, Nik, and I don't even really count since I'm your sister."

"It's six months, Rebekah," he chuckled. "I think I'll be fine."

"Did you hear that Grayson? Uncle Nik thinks he'll be 'fine.' Words spoken by a true bachelor," she said to Grayson laughingly.

_Leaning down, he picked Grayson up from Rebekah's lap. _

"You're going to turn him into a mini you," he complained. "I don't need two of you mocking me."

_Rebekah stuck her tongue out at him childishly as the doors to the dining room opened and Mikael and Esther emerged, coats in hand, with Stefan trailing behind them. _

_It was hard to read any of their expressions, but all of them looked dissatisfied. _

"Rebekah, get your coat, we're going back to the hotel," his father said sternly.

_His sister's face furrowed as she stood up from the floor. _

"Why? We're supposed to head to the Grill soon," Rebekah protested.

_Mikael shook his head. _

"Your mother and I refuse to participate in such a travesty," he said decidedly.

_He gritted his teeth _

"But I want to go," Rebekah told him.

_Mikael rolled his eyes and shrugged indifferently. _

"Fine," he relented. "Go then."

"You'll have to get a ride back to the hotel with Finn and Sage," Esther informed her.

"Fine," Rebekah said defiantly before turning out of the living room for the family room where Kol, Finn, and Sage were.

_Mikael dropped his hands to his sides once Rebekah was gone. _

_He moved into the hall with Grayson. _

"Well, everything in the will checks out. It's a legally binding document," Mikael said, almost disappointedly, looking briefly in Stefan's direction. "You and Caroline are listed as Grayson's guardians," he acknowledged with a scornful laugh.

_It was hard to resist giving his father a smug glare. _

"However, Stefan informs us that there is a six month trial period; that permanent custody will only be awarded to you and Miss Forbes at the end of the six months and if you successfully complete your visits with CPS," Mikael said. "Stefan has also explained to us that once you two have been formally processed by the courts as Grayson's tentative permanent guardians, anyone is able to contest the arrangement within the six month time frame after the first thirty days," Mikael said with a devilish look on his face.

_His body felt like it was burning on the inside, ready to explode with anger, but he managed to hold back, releasing only a snarl under his breath. _

"Should Stefan be expecting a call from you in thirty days?" he asked coldly, trying desperately to stand his ground and not buckle under his father's pressure.

_He had been so used to confronting his father with Elijah, never alone. _

_Mikael laughed and shook his head. _

"I really don't think that will be necessary for now," Mikael conceded.

_His eyebrows furrowed and his jaw clenched tighter, knowing better than to embrace premature relief. _

"I have complete confidence that it's only a matter of time before you and Miss Forbes sabotage the custody arrangement all on your own," Mikael said confidently, "and when you do, your mother and I will be here to pick up the pieces and give Grayson a proper home."

_Mikael headed for the front door without so much as a look in Grayson's direction. _

_His mother stepped forward. _

"Please, Niklaus, put an end to this madness. Put your pride aside. You know you're not capable of raising a child. You know this arrangement with Caroline is juvenile and impractical. I know you want to honour your brother's wishes, but you need to honour what's best for Grayson," Esther pleaded with him, looking at both him and Grayson with phony motherly affection.

_She extended both her hands and attempted to caress both their cheeks. _

_He recoiled._

"I am," he stated.

_His mother frowned disappointedly. _

"Come on Esther, you're wasting your time," Mikael hissed. "You know Niklaus does not listen to reason. He's always been a foolish boy."

_Esther gave him a brief second glance, as though she hoped he would change his mind. _

"Goodbye, Mother," he said coldly, tightening his hold on Grayson.

* * *

_In the kitchen, she was trying her best to listen intently as Meredith described to her and Bonnie the two week vacation she and Stefan were planning to take to Europe this summer. _

_It worked as a sufficient distraction for awhile, preventing her from thinking about what Mikael and Esther could be discussing with Stefan. _

_That was until she turned her attention towards the family room and noticed Rebekah talking to Sage without Grayson. _

_The sudden panic she felt was only heightened when she saw Stefan approach Kol. _

_Where were Mikael and Esther? Where was Klaus? Most importantly, where was Grayson? _

_Her stomach lurched over the unknown and she quickly excused herself from the conversation. _

_Both Meredith and Bonnie exchanged concerned glances with her briefly before returning to Meredith's excitement over the sights to see in Greece. _

_She headed for the front hall only to find it, along with the living room, empty. _

"Klaus?" she called as she peered into the dining room.

_He wasn't there, neither were Mikael or Esther. _

_She felt sick, automatically jumping to worst case scenarios. _

_Opening the front door, she saw no one, nor was she able to decipher the car Mikael and Esther had arrived in at the burial either. _

_She knew they hadn't left out the back; she would have seen them. _

_Shutting the door hurriedly, she rushed upstairs to Grayson's room. _

_Relief hit her instantly when she found Klaus on the floor with Grayson seated in between his legs with a small pile of blocks in front of him. _

_Neither Grayson nor Klaus noticed her at first. Grayson was too busy shrieking with delight as he picked up and dropped the blocks and Klaus was too busy watching intently. _

_Leaning against the doorframe, she watched the two of them. _

_It was hard to explain, but seeing them together like this was reassuring. For some reason it gave her confidence that she and Klaus could get through whatever Mikael and Esther threw at them. It made Klaus's promise seem less hallow than it had last night. _

_In this moment, she could see how much Klaus genuinely cared about his nephew. It was endearing, and definitely not a side she was used to seeing from him yet. _

_It seemed to at least temporarily quell all the second guesses she had about them taking care of Grayson. All of the concerns Mikael and Esther had rose to question their ability seemed trivial and insignificant. _

_When the door she was partially leaning against creaked open a little as her weight shifted, Klaus looked up at her. _

"Hey," she said quietly.

"Hey," he replied as he handed a red block to Grayson. "I brought him up here to get away from the excitement thinking he may want to nap before we left for the Grill, but he was more interested in playing," he said.

_She thought she could sense a subtle hint of desperation in his voice and explanation, as though it was really him who wanted to disappear upstairs with Grayson. _

"He will probably sleep the entire time we're at the Grill," she mused, stepping a little further into the room, "which is probably for the best anyways."

_He nodded knowingly. _

"Your parents are gone?" she inquired cautiously, sitting on the carpet across from Klaus and Grayson, knees together sideways given that she was still wearing her uncomfortable dress.

"They left just before I came up here," he informed her.

_She could hear the animosity in his answer as she reached for a few of Grayson's blocks. _

"They left?" she asked, confused by what he meant.

"They went back to the hotel. They don't want to go to the Grill. They think it's a 'travesty,'" he groaned.

_Even though a part of her expected it, she still rolled her eyes and grumbled under her breath. _

_Grayson shuffled towards her on his bottom, intent upon the red block she had in her hand. _

"I'd be fine if they stayed there until they left town," he laughed bitterly.

_Actually, she felt the same. Though she still dreaded the prospect of facing everyone at the Grill this afternoon, the fact that Mikael and Esther would not be in attendance was definitely a weight off her shoulders. _

_Her mind drifted back to concern and curiosity over their conversation with Stefan. _

"What did they talk to Stefan about?" she asked anxiously, unsure if she really wanted to know the answer.

_Klaus shrugged. _

"They mainly wanted to confirm the legitimacy of Elena and Elijah's will," he informed her.

"That's it?" she asked surprised.

"_Mainly_," he stressed. "They found out all they could about contesting it," he said.

_She felt her body go rigid at Klaus's mention of his parents contesting the will. _

"Do you think they will?" she wondered.

"Well they can't until we attend the formal hearing to solidify us as intended permanent guardians, and even then, they have to wait thirty days," Klaus explained. "My parents seem to think that we'll screw up well enough on our own that they won't need to pursue any legal action."

_She laughed instinctively at their audacity, even though a large part of her perceived Mikael and Esther as a legitimate threat and remained concerned about Grayson's fate. _

"But that's not gonna happen, right?" she asked, intent upon his reassurance for some reason.

_Grayson's hand touched hers as he tried to wiggle the block from her hand. _

"No, it's not," he reaffirmed.

"So then they will probably have to contest," she concluded.

_Klaus shrugged. _

"I'm not going to worry about it until it actually happens," he said encouragingly.

_She nodded even though she felt dissatisfied with this response. It was in her nature to worry about everything, including possibilities. _

"Is Rebekah coming to the Grill?" she wondered, hoping a change of subject would remedy her worry - at least temporarily.

"Yeah, she's going to get a ride with Sage and Finn," he confirmed.

"That's good," she commented casually.

"I noticed you talking to the Lockwoods and my parents earlier," Klaus commented curiously, sounding a little hesitant.

_She gave Grayson the block she had been playfully teasing him with. _

"They kind of cornered me when I came downstairs. I had no choice," she admitted, "but it turned out better than I thought it would."

_Klaus looked at her questioningly and she couldn't help but crack a small smile as she thought back to the conversation. _

"While your father backhandedly criticized us, the Lockwoods stuck up for me...for us," she explained. "I think he thought the Lockwoods would share his opinions."

"Apparently not," Klaus mused.

_She shook her head. _

"The looks on your parents' faces were priceless," she beamed.

_He laughed. _

"Apparently I don't loathe the Lockwoods as much as I thought I did," Klaus decided.

"They have their moments, but they really aren't that bad," she affirmed. "Carol was there for me a lot after my...mom," she hesitated, catching herself before she went any further.

_Klaus looked at her again with the same inquisitive stare he had given her earlier when he found her in the cemetery. _

"You don't have to talk about it," he yielded.

_She nodded thankfully, but said nothing. _

_They both watched Grayson for awhile marveling at his enthusiasm over the simple objects. _

"It's the bright colours. He likes the bright colours," she mused.

"Are you sure?" Klaus asked as Grayson dropped another block at the edge of the rug, letting it hit the hardwood. "Because I'm pretty sure it's the noise they make when they hit the floor," he chuckled.

_Grayson mimicked him, giggling in amusement. _

_She winced as Grayson fit his tiny mouth over the edge of one of the blocks, coating it and his lips with drool. _

"Or, maybe it's the way they taste?" he laughed.

_She reached up for a tissue on the table and encouraged Grayson to remove the block. _

"It's only a little drool," Klaus said bemusedly. "Babies tend to do that, sweetheart," he teased.

_Smirking as she rolled her eyes at him, she wiped the excess from Grayson's mouth. _

_When she was finished she noticed Klaus look past her at the doorway. _

_Glancing over her shoulder she saw Kol standing there curiously. _

"We should probably get ready to go down to the Grill soon," he informed them.

* * *

**A/N: awe, so how did your feels feel about that Klaroline + Grayson moment, hmm? What did you think of the Lockwoods? review, review, review, I'm dying to know! **


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: Here's the second part! **_  
_

**I don't know how you're going to feel by the end of the chapter, but... **

**Hooray for some new and not-so-new characters in this chapter **

**And as always, thank to you to my beta, livingdeadblondegirl for all her helpful suggestions and edits!**

* * *

_She didn't want to be here. _

_If she was being honest with herself she would have much rather stayed upstairs in Grayson's room, away from everyone else, playing with Grayson and the blocks he seemed to enjoy so much. _

_The Grill wasn't very busy at this time in the afternoon on a Monday, but when most of the patrons - some familiar and others not - looked up at her with regretful looks on their faces, she knew that they were here for Elijah and Elena. _

_She felt guilty for having arrived a little late, but she supposed that was the story of her life now that she had an unpredictable six-month old. _

_Bonnie and Kol talked to the hostess who greeted them and she disappeared to the back of the restaurant to retrieve the owner. _

_Rebekah already had Grayson out of his carrier and winter coat beside her. _

_Klaus had fell behind outside for a cigarette. _

_Stefan and Meredith had yet to arrive, as did Finn and Sage and Elena's other relatives. _

"That's the new owner of this place," Rebekah said to her under her breath suggestively as they saw a guy, who couldn't be that much older than her, emerge from the back and approach them.

_He was dressed semi-casually in a blue button up shirt and black pants, distinguishing himself from his employees. With dirty blonde hair, blue eyes, and a cute smile, she knew well enough to be wary of him, though she was ogling him just as obviously as Rebekah was. _

_It must have been him who she had spoken to over the phone. His name started with an 'M' but she couldn't recall it. _

_He greeted Bonnie and Kol first with a sense of familiarity. They had probably met with him yesterday when they stopped by. _

"Hey, I'm Matt Donovan," he spoke, extending his hand to her.

"Caroline; I think we spoke on the phone," she explained.

_He nodded. _

"I'm so sorry for your loss, Caroline," he said cordially.

_And so the apologies and sympathetic remarks began. _

_He pointed to the one side of the restaurant. _

"We have that section reserved for you and those who have come to pay their respects. I have two of my waitresses set aside for you. Let your immediate family know that any food you order is on the house," Matt informed her.

_She nodded and smiled appreciatively. _

"If you need anything, don't hesitate to ask me personally," he said helpfully, smiling back at both her and Rebekah, before one of the bus boys yelled to him from the bar.

_He excused himself and dashed off towards the employee. _

_Rebekah snorted beside her. _

"Don't hesitate to ask him personally," Rebekah said cheekily.

_She started to laugh, but she caught herself, quickly recalling where they were and why they were there. _

_Sucking in a breath to prepare herself, she stepped forward, heading towards the section that had been designated theirs, and towards the people who had come to feel sorry for them. _

_She glanced past the photos of Elijah and Elena that Kol and Bonnie had hastily put together yesterday for display especially for this event. She had seen all of those photos numerous times the past few days, so much so, she could see them in her mind without even looking at them. _

_The number of people already here surprised her, but then again, when you lived in a small town like Mystic Falls everybody knew everyone somehow. _

_She greeted Sheriff Martin first, going with the person who was most familiar to her. She had to ease herself into this. _

_As she talked to the Sheriff, she saw Rebekah, Kol, and Bonnie talking to an unfamiliar older couple who seemed completely enthralled by Grayson. _

_It was then that she noticed Klaus enter the restaurant, with Finn, Sage, and their kids behind him. She wasn't entirely surprised when Finn and Sage and their kids were the only ones to head in her direction. Klaus made a b-line for the bar, clearly not intent upon acknowledging the tiny crowd that had since gathered for Elijah and Elena. _

_After the Sheriff departed back to work, she made a bit of small talk with Finn and Sage, though it felt forced. _

_She knew they felt a sense of loyalty to Mikael and Esther. She knew they were indifferent to her. She could feel them sizing up her suitability to be one of Grayson's guardians. While they weren't as opinionated or hostile as Mikael and Esther on the custody issue, it was also obvious that they were far from enthusiastic. _

_Klaus sitting alone at the bar, chatting up a pretty bartender while nursing a glass of liquor wasn't exactly helping their case either. _

_A part of her wanted to confront him about it, but she supposed she could only expect so much progress and accountability from him in one weekend. This was his brother's funeral, technically. She didn't want to be unsympathetic. He had stepped up a lot over the past couple of days; one drink at the bar wasn't the end of the world. For some reason though, she found herself more concerned about the way he was drinking in the bartender rather than the liquor. _

_She shook her head, knowing she couldn't coddle him. She was Grayson's guardian, not his. He was free to do what he wanted so long as he was not putting Grayson in any direct harm. She had to leave him be. _

_Ignoring him, she started for Rebekah as she noticed Grayson seemed to be getting fussy. _

_After emerging from the washrooms with Grayson - who had conveniently decided he wanted his diaper changed at the Grill, rather than at home before they left - she noticed that Stefan had joined Klaus. Stefan's brother Damon - the cocky co-MC at Elijah and Elena's wedding who had rudely flirted with her and Bonnie, and had generally given her a hard time for the duration of that night - was also seated with them. She wasn't aware he'd be in town for this, she thought, watching them curiously from the corner of her eye as she retreated back to the group. The three of them were staring awkwardly in her direction. _

"Caroline," a familiar voice said from behind her.

_She looked over her shoulder. _

"Camille," she said, happy to see someone else she knew here.

_They hugged awkwardly around Grayson. _

"I'm sorry about Elena and Elijah; I know how close you were to them. I don't think one week went by without Elena stopping in to the store with Grayson," Camille commented, pulling away and waving with a cutesy face in Grayson's direction.

_She smiled faintly, suddenly reminded of something else she would miss with Elena. At least once a week Elena would stop by the store with Grayson and they would have a lunch date. _

"I guess you got my message about closing the store today," she said, relieved, since she had completely forgotten to follow up after she had sent the voicemail to Camille.

_Camille nodded. _

"I'm sorry for being so unreachable all weekend," she apologized. "There's just been a lot going on," she reasoned.

"You have no need to apologize," Camille assured her. "April and I understand. We took care of things."

_Camille had worked for her for over a year now and she wasn't sure what she would do without her. _

"April is going to stop by later. She had one of her final projects to hand in today," Camille said, explaining her new intern's absence. April's other commitments had completely slipped her mind after this weekend. "Then she'll be ours for the summer," Camille sighed, the stress of all the work they had to do slowly coming back to her.

_She was entirely torn between wanting to immerse herself in her work to forget about her other new reality, while another part of her had no motivation or inspiration whatsoever. _

"Sorry, I don't want to stress you out," Camille apologized. "Let's not talk about work."

_Smiling in agreement, she walked Camille to their reserved tables and took a seat with her. _

"How are you doing?" Camille asked.

_She was beginning to hate that question, but she knew Camille was genuinely concerned. _

"A little overwhelmed," she conceded, beginning to bounce Grayson on her thigh while holding him protectively.

"You know I offered to help," Camille said.

_She shook her head. _

"I know, and it's okay. Bonnie and Elijah's siblings have been really helpful. It's not the funeral stuff really. It's just adjusting afterwards; figuring out how I'm going to juggle work and raise Grayson at the same time," she listed.

_Camille's eyebrows furrowed in confusion and she realized that she had not filled Camille in on just how drastically her life had changed in the past few days. _

"Raise Grayson?" Camille wondered. "Elijah and Elena made you Grayson's guardian?"

"Yeah, they did," she revealed.

_Camille's eyes went wide, much like hers did when she first heard the news from Stefan. _

"Oh my god," Camille responded with both shock and concern in her voice. "That is definitely overwhelming."

_She nodded as she looked down at the little boy in her lap. _

"You're really gonna do this?" Camille confirmed. "I mean, don't get me wrong, you're great with Grayson and he adores you, but you have a lot on your plate as it is. Can you do this alone? Did Elena and Elijah consider that? Did they run this by you?" she wondered.

"They didn't tell me. Their will was only put together very recently," she explained to Camille. "And yeah, I'm gonna do this. Elena and Elijah wanted me to. I can't turn my back on that - especially when there are no suitable alternatives. Besides, I won't be doing it completely alone," she admitted.

_Camille's eyebrow arched as she looked at her searchingly, wondering what she meant. _

"Klaus Mikaelson, Elijah's brother, was also listed as a guardian," she informed her.

_Just when she thought Camille's eyes couldn't get any wider, the revelation of this detail had certainly proved that wrong. _

_Camille looked more confused than ever. _

"You're going to raise Grayson with Elijah's brother? Who is he? Do you even know him?" Camille wondered, bombarding her with a million questions.

_She had never told Camille about Klaus. Camille was a new employee of hers at the time of her encounter with him. That weekend had left her feeling confused and embarrassed and the only two people she had remotely confided in then were Elena and Bonnie. She hadn't told Camille then, nor would she now. Especially now, considering the circumstances. Camille wouldn't understand the situation; the second she told Camille about her history with Klaus, Camille would be raising red flags about her decisions to live with Klaus temporarily and share custody of Grayson with him. She didn't need that. She had enough of that from everyone else as it was. _

"I know him. They all used to live in Mystic Falls when they were younger. We sort of grew up together as passing acquaintances," she explained carefully. "Klaus and Elijah were very close. He was Elijah's best man."

_Camille eyed her warily. _

"Does he live here?" Camille wondered.

_She shook her head, knowing more concerns from Camille were coming. _

"No, he lives in New York. He paints," she replied.

"How is that going to work?" Camille asked skeptically.

_She shrugged. _

"He's going to stay here in town for a while, until the custody arrangement is made permanent and we have all the details of Elijah and Elena's will taken care of. After that, we'll come up with something that works for us both," she said confidently.

_Camille, however, did not look convinced. _

"Lots of divorced parents do this all the time. They make it work. At least with us there will be no animosity or hard feelings. Both of us want to step up and take care of Grayson. I'm not going to try and stop him from doing that," she said in her and Klaus's defence.

_Camille sighed discontentedly, still obviously concerned about the arrangement. _

"I guess if you think you can make this work," Camille conceded. "Sorry for my reaction. For obvious reasons, I'm just a little concerned about you suddenly raising a child - with a strange man, no less," she added.

_She laughed faintly, already having to remind herself that Camille was unaware of the history she and Klaus shared. _

"I appreciate your concern. Believe me, I had the same ones when I first found out, but they seem trivial in lieu of losing Elena and Elijah. I want to honour their wishes the best I can," she admitted, brushing one of her hands gently through Grayson's hair. "Having Klaus around at Elena and Elijah's hasn't been so bad. He's been helpful," she admitted, letting her eyes drift briefly across the restaurant to the bar where Klaus was seated, immersed in his drink, as well as a conversation with the Salvatores.

"Wait...he's been staying with you at Elena and Elijah's?" Camille asked, prompting her to turn her attention back to her own conversation.

"Where else would he stay?" she shrugged. "Bonnie and Kol are staying there too," she pointed out. "It's not a big deal. We're both gonna be living there until everything is sorted out. It will be easier, especially for Grayson," she reasoned.

_Camille's look of uncertainty was not surprising. _

_She rolled her eyes. _

"He's Grayson's uncle. Elijah and Elena listed him as a guardian of Grayson. You're looking at me like he's going to murder me in my sleep. He's not going to hurt me," she tried to persuade Camille, faltering slightly on her last sentence as she looked back over at Klaus, noticing the brunette bartender smiling flirtatiously as she handed the three guys their drinks.

"Which one is he?" Camille asked.

"Hmm?" she said, looking back at Camille.

_Camille nodded over to the bar. _

"I see Stefan Salvatore and two other guys," Camille clarified. "So that leads me to believe that Klaus is either the raven-haired hottie with the chiseled jaw, or the dirty blonde with sexy dimples and very kissable lips," she mused.

_She glared at Camille in response to her blunt physical descriptions of Damon and Klaus. _

_As much as she hated to admit it, there was a part of her silently conceding to Camille's accuracy. _

"Damon Salvatore - Stefan's brother - is in the white shirt, Klaus is in the black one," she informed her, purposely ignoring any reference to their physical appearance.

_Camille arched an eyebrow in her direction, a mischievous smirk playing on her lips. _

"I suppose I can't fault your enthusiasm over your new living arrangements now," Camille laughed. "Okay, so he might not murder you in your sleep, but he might steal your heart," she said warningly.

_She shook her head definitively. _

"It's not like that," she stated firmly.

_Camille shot her a critical stare. _

"It's not," she reaffirmed defensively. "He's not my type."

_She received another unsure look from Camille. _

"So does that mean you're surrendering your claim on him?" Camille inquired.

"I don't have a claim on him in the first place," she shrugged with furrowed brows.

_Camille grinned as she stared over at Klaus. _

"Well then, maybe I should see if he's my type," Camille mused.

_She felt her body tense with anxiety with Camille's declaration of interest in Klaus. _

"Uh oh, what's that look for?" Camille asked her, obviously having noticed her uneasy expression. "Even though I think it's unwise for you to get involved with this guy you're supposed to be sharing custody of your best friend's son with, if you're interested in him just tell me and I'll back off," Camille reiterated.

"It's not that Camille, it's just that I don't want to see you get hurt," she clarified. "When it comes to women, Klaus doesn't exactly have the best reputation. He hasn't been known to commit to any one girl. The most commitment I've seen from him is with Grayson," she explained.

_Camille seemed a little disheartened, but shrugged nonetheless. _

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves. I haven't even talked to him yet," Camille said. "All I wanna do is have some fun. The only way I want a man right now is in my bed," she confessed. "I just got out of a relationship. I don't need another one."

_It was now her turn to appear uncertain. _

"I just want you to be careful," she said, giving Camille a friendly smile, hoping that it would bury the sick feeling she felt in the pit of her stomach. "I just don't want anything bad to happen. I also don't want to be caught in the middle of it as your boss and Grayson's guardian if it does," she pointed out.

_Camille shook her head decidedly. _

"Thanks for your concern boss," Camille smiled. "You know I would never let anything jeopardize my job, and I'd never want to inadvertently hurt you or Grayson," she assured her, nodding down towards Grayson in her lap, whose eyes were now closed.

_She felt her chest get a little heavy at the sight. She longed for Elena to be here with Grayson instead of her. At the same time, after just a few days, she couldn't imagine being anywhere else but with Grayson. Every day he seemed to carve out a deeper place for himself in her heart. _

"But, like I said, let's not get ahead of ourselves. Klaus seems to be preoccupied with the bartender anyways," Camille chuckled indifferently.

* * *

_He didn't want to be here. _

_That was his first thought when he entered the Grill with Finn, Sage, and their kids behind him. _

_The place he used to flee to for solace before he left Mystic Falls; the site of so many good memories with his brother, was now a place he was being pushed into; the site of their final good-bye to Elijah and Elena. The good memories only made being here now more difficult. _

_He knew what Elijah and Elena's intentions were with the low key event, but all he could think about as he approached the bar was that Elijah would never be there waiting for him, Scotch in hand, complaining about his tardiness. _

_How could he celebrate their lives with that dark cloud looming over his shoulder? _

_He was in no mood to celebrate, nor was he in any mood to accept the condolences of perfect strangers. _

_All he felt like doing was turning around and going back the house so he could mourn on this day alone. _

_He could have probably kept playing with Grayson this afternoon instead of coming here. He would have preferred it to this, actually. Grayson may have been the spitting image of Elijah, but ironically, he found Grayson was the one who could best make him forget about his brother and Elena - if even for a few minutes at a time. Watching Grayson play and listening to him laugh had turned out to be one of the most effective distractions. _

_Another effective distraction was alcohol, and he if he was going to stay here, then he would most definitely need a drink or two. _

_He was only here out of respect for his brother and Elena. _

_Sitting down at the bar, he briefly scanned the restaurant for Grayson, finding him in Rebekah's arms being tickled by Kol. _

_And even though he had located Grayson, he found himself searching out Caroline. Surprisingly, she was talking to Finn and Sage. _

_He had briefly talked to them outside himself. It was probably the most he had spoken to Finn or Sage since Elijah and Elena's wedding. _

_It was mostly small talk, with them quickly summarizing what they had been up to over the last year. They hadn't made any openly hostile remarks about him and Caroline receiving custody of Grayson, but he could tell by the judgemental tone of their voices that they didn't exactly approve of the arrangement. Of course they didn't. His father had Finn eating out of the palm of his hand. _

"Hey stranger," a feminine voice purred from behind the bar as he removed his jacket.

_He looked up to see Vicki, the flirty brunette who had served him the other day. _

_She smiled brightly and pushed a drink across the bar top in his direction. _

"Scotch on the rocks, right?" she confirmed.

_He smirked at the gesture before wrapping his fingers around the cold glass. _

"Correct," he said, before taking a long sip. "You have an impeccable memory, sweetheart," he added, playing along with her flirty game.

_She laughed sheepishly. _

"Only a memory for a particular blue-eyed stranger with peculiar drinking habits," she said coyly.

_He glanced over at the clock on the wall. _

"Well, I'm a little later this time," he commented, taking another drink.

"What brings you by this afternoon?" she asked.

_He hesitated, instinctively looking over to where he should have been right now. Caroline and Grayson were missing. _

_Vicki stammered as she connected the dots. _

"You said you were in town for family matters," she breathed, "your brother is...Elijah Mikaelson," she concluded, rubbing a hand over her face. "I'm sorry," she apologized. "Your other brother was in here yesterday. The accents should have given it away."

_He shrugged indifferently. _

"You didn't know," he muttered. "I wasn't exactly forthcoming the other day."

_She nodded gratefully. _

"I'm sorry about your brother and sister-in-law," Vicki offered. "They had been in a few times since we re-opened with their adorable son. They were nice people. Everyone in town seemed to know them," she said, as though she was trying to make him feel better about their loss.

_From the corner of his eye, he noticed Caroline heading towards the washrooms with Grayson. They made eye contact briefly before he looked down. _

_He said nothing in response Vicki, preferring to sip silently from his glass, hoping she would take the hint. _

"Sorry," she winced again. "You probably don't want to talk about it, which is why you're here and not over there," she realized. "I'll get you another drink and then I'll leave you alone," she laughed nervously.

"Actually," a devious male voice said from behind him as an arm draped over his shoulder, "how about you make that three drinks, and whether or not you leave us alone is entirely optional, beautiful."

_He rolled his eyes as Vicki blushed and nodded before going to retrieve some clean glasses. _

"Damon Salvatore," he said, feigning distaste as Stefan's older brother took the seat to his right, and Stefan took the seat to his left.

_He looked to Stefan with annoyance clearly marked on his face. _

_It wasn't that he hated Damon Salvatore; they had grown up together and played as children; it was just that, more often than not, their personalities clashed. He supposed that was one of the reasons why he was better friends with Stefan, and why Elijah had been better friends with Damon. _

"Stefan failed to inform me that you would be coming into town," he muttered before polishing off the remainder of his drink.

_He should have just assumed it logically. While he and Elijah hadn't been as close as they were during med school, they still kept in touch. _

"I may generally be a heartless bastard - like you - but I wouldn't miss being here for Elijah," Damon said defensively.

_He supposed he could respect that. _

"That's why Meredith and I are a bit late," Stefan explained. "We had to go pick Damon up from the hotel."

"I don't suppose you ran into my parents?" he groaned.

_Damon's lips pursed as he shook his head. _

"Thankfully not," Damon conceded, a commonality of theirs being a mutual distaste for his parents, "but I was hoping to run into your sister," he smirked suggestively.

_He shot a threatening look in Damon's direction as Vicki returned with their drinks. _

"Damon," Stefan scowled warningly.

_Damon laughed innocently before setting his sights back on Vicki as she placed the three glasses in front of them. _

"Thanks," Damon said to her with a wink.

"You're welcome," Vicki said, looking over at him rather than Damon before she was called away by one of the waitresses.

_Damon raised his glass slightly. _

"I think we should have this next drink for Elijah." Damon said. "This was his favourite after all."

_He nodded and raised his glass beside Damon's, conceding that for once, Damon actually had a good idea. _

"To Elijah," Stefan said, lifting his glass.

_He sucked in a breath as it hit him again that his brother was gone. Bringing the glass to his lips, he took a swig of the drink in sync with Stefan and Damon. _

_The liquor had a smooth burn as it slid down his throat, and he closed his eyes briefly to savour it. _

"Where's Grayson?" Damon wondered. "I saw pictures of him, but he was like a day old, he must be so big now. Please tell me your parents don't have custody of him," Damon grimaced.

_Hesitating for a second, he looked to Stefan who obviously hadn't filled Damon in on the arrangements. He already knew what Damon's reaction would be. _

"Actually, I have custody of him," he revealed.

_Damon covered his mouth abruptly as he choked back his drink. _

"What?" Damon asked incredulously with an amused snort. "Elijah and Elena gave you custody of Grayson? Are you shitting me? That's almost just as bad as Mikael and Esther," Damon laughed.

_He groaned, not in the mood for Damon's mocking critique. _

"I don't think they have a daycare down at your local pub in New York," Damon chuckled, "although I guarantee you'll get ten times more ass with Grayson as your wingman."

"Shut up, Damon," he lamented.

_Damon snickered, setting his half empty glass back down on the bar. _

"Seriously though, how did you end up with Grayson?" Damon wondered. "I mean, I know he's your nephew and that you and Elijah were close, but do you even know how to take care of a baby?"

"He isn't doing it alone," Stefan interjected, jumping into defend him before he had a chance to speak for himself.

_He glared at Stefan before Damon erupted into more laughter. _

"So you're leaving Meredith and you and Klaus have finally admitted your love for one another?" Damon beamed jokingly.

"Fuck off, mate," he seethed, shoving Damon's shoulder.

"Elijah and Elena also listed Elena's best friend Caroline as guardian," Stefan informed Damon, prompting Damon to let his fist drop.

_This new detail seemed to do nothing to quell Damon's amusement. He suspected it wouldn't, which is why he was reluctant to say anything to the elder Salvatore. _

"Caroline, as in Caroline the smoking hot feisty maid of honour you banged?" Damon inquired.

_He shot Stefan another accusing look. Obviously Stefan had let that detail slip at some point. _

"Caroline was Elena's maid of honour," Stefan confirmed, ignoring the lewd second half of Damon's description.

_Damon dropped his head rubbing his face with the crook of his arm as he laughed in disbelief. _

"How the hell is that going to work?" Damon mused.

_Stefan looked at him expectantly, waiting for him to answer Damon this time. _

"We'll only have temporary custody of Grayson for the first six months before it's made permanent," he started, deciding to get the living arrangement out in the open, knowing Damon would find out somehow regardless, "Caroline and I are going to be moving into Elijah and Elena's house in the meantime to take care of Grayson. After the six months is up, we'll work out some custody arrangement between us so I can return to New York."

_Damon's eyes widened and a mischievous grin appeared. _

"So let me get this completely straight; you and the smoking hot blonde you fucked are going to be living together in close proximity for six months while you both take care of Grayson?" Damon clarified.

_He scowled, refusing to satisfy Damon's inquiry with a response. _

"That sounds like a beautiful disaster," Damon concluded as he removed his wallet from his jacket. "What do you say, brother, should we take bets on how long before Klaus and Caroline start _taking care_ of one another? I give it a month," Damon snickered.

_Stefan held his hands up to convey his neutrality. _

"I'm not getting involved," Stefan declared.

"Place your bets on _never_ Stefan," he interrupted. "You'll easily win since what Damon is suggesting is not going to happen," he stated confidently.

_Damon cocked an intrigued eyebrow. _

"You say that now," Damon told him, "but just wait until you catch Caroline in her skimpy summer pyjamas, or when she bends over to pick up Grayson giving you a clear view of her cleavage and that ass," Damon listed. "I'm sure you'll be singing a completely different tune then."

_He glowered at Damon and shook his head determinedly. He wasn't denying that those scenarios weren't likely to happen, but he knew they would never lead to anything more. Caroline would never make the same mistake twice; he wouldn't either. _

"You basically have the ideal situation that every guy going into his thirties lusts after at your fingertips," Damon laughed. "You have a pseudo home, a pseudo son, and a pseudo wife without the real commitment that any of it brings," Damon mused.

"You know that isn't true, Damon," Stefan warned. "Stepping in to raise Grayson in place of Elijah and Elena is a very real commitment."

_Damon rolled his eyes at his brother's realism. _

"I'm just joking, Stefan, relax," Damon bemoaned. "All I'm saying is that if Klaus and Caroline are going to take on this responsibility, they might as well enjoy the _fringe benefits_, or the _perks_ of the job," Damon suggested jovially. "I mean, what else are they going to do once Grayson goes to bed?"

"Knock it off, Damon. It's never going to happen. Caroline and I already went there once. Mock me all you want, but I intend to honour my brother's wishes, and I don't want to do anything that might fuck that up," he explained.

_Damon scoffed loudly in distaste. _

"Why are you putting so much unnecessary thought into this?" Damon lamented. "You'll be heading back to New York in six months and you and Caroline will essentially be like divorced parents, so what's the difference if you screw now or not?"

"Maybe Klaus wants to be on good terms with Caroline when he leaves, for Grayson's sake?" Stefan suggested quickly.

_Damon shrugged and threw his hands down in defeat. _

"How else are you going to get laid in this damn town then while you're here?!" Damon muttered.

"Would you like another one?" Vicki asked suddenly as she appeared in front of him, looking down at his empty glass curiously.

_He gave Damon a sideways glance. _

"Of course he would gorgeous," Damon sniggered.

"Coming right up," she said, grinning at him.

"Thanks, love," he told her.

_He gave her a passing nod as she moved a few feet down the bar to retrieve the bottle of whisky they'd been drinking. _

"Forget I even asked the question," Damon said. "Not even here a week and you're already working on new leads. I'm proud of you," he added, patting him on the back. "I can't talk to Stef about this stuff anymore seeing as he's in a 'committed' relationship," he groaned.

_Stefan scoffed disapprovingly before sipping on his own drink. _

"I gotta admit though, Stefan settling down has gotten Mom and Dad off my back about all that bullshit, so thanks baby bro," Damon said, raising his glass in Stefan's direction.

_Vicki brought back his drink, giving him a quick look before Damon interrupted and requested another drink for himself. _

"Speaking of Grayson and Caroline," Damon said, jerking his head to the right.

_In the distance he saw Caroline and Grayson emerge from the washrooms. _

_Damon murmured pleasantly under his breath as Caroline walked by to the other end of the restaurant. _

"Damn," Damon commented, shaking his head. "Seriously, Klaus, if you're giving up your place in line, I may have to step in. I would give anything to get in between those legs of hers," Damon described, licking his lips for added emphasis.

_He glared at Damon in response to his comment, but he faltered, resisting the unexplained urge to punch Damon in the jaw. _

"Go ahead mate, good luck," he said sarcastically.

"Didn't she sleep with you the first night?" Damon wondered.

_He winced inwardly as vivid flashes of their first night together here, and then at the hotel confronted him. _

"I'm sure Klaus scared her off the idea of another one night stand," Stefan concluded.

"I like challenges," Damon smirked.

_Damon's words quickly prompted his thoughts to fall back upon the night of Elijah and Elena's wedding when Caroline had left the location of her room a secret to him. _

_Stefan shook his head dismissively. _

"Not even you can make something happen in like what? The next day?" Stefan asked incredulously. "When do you go back?"

_A Cheshire grin spread across Damon's lips, and for some reason it made him feel anxious. _

"I guess I forgot to tell you," Damon said, "my stay in Mystic Falls is going to be a bit of an extended one," he gleamed.

_Both he and Stefan cocked their heads to the side curiously and worriedly. _

"The hospital needs someone to fill in for Elijah until they can hire a replacement," Damon shrugged. "I was kind of volunteered for it since I was coming here anyways, but I figure it's the least I can do."

_He frowned at the prospect of Damon's stay in Mystic Falls being long term. He could only handle the elder Salvatore in small doses. _

_Stefan did not look amused either. _

"So I know I booked the room at the hotel because I didn't want to impose on you and Meredith, but it looks like I might need a place to stay until I can find something temporary of my own," Damon said to Stefan in his most pleasant voice.

_Stefan paused for a moment, a reluctant look etched on his face. _

"Do you have to ask Meredith first?" Damon asked Stefan mockingly.

_Rolling his eyes, Stefan shook his head. _

"You can stay, but only temporarily," Stefan stipulated.

"Thanks baby bro, you really know how to make me feel welcome," Damon winked.

_He laughed at the conversation between the Salvatores, before he was confronted by the fact that he and Elijah would never exchange banter like that again. _

_Damon put his arm around him. _

"So Klaus, I guess that means we can be drinking buddies when I'm not working," Damon exclaimed.

_He huffed under his breath in annoyance._

* * *

_The three of them talked for about another hour at the bar about casual topics of interest, namely their employment endeavours, although his seemed less prestigious than both Stefan and Damon's._

_After Stefan left at Meredith's request, with promises to solidify a court date for custody of Grayson, it seemed he and Damon had struck up a flirting competition with Vicki every time she came by to prepare them another drink. _

_He couldn't even remember how many drinks he'd had in the last while, but he did know he was sufficiently buzzed. _

_He hadn't once set foot over to the other area to talk to those who had come to offer their sympathy. To be honest, he didn't really care that he hadn't. He had needed this small talk with Stefan and Damon to get his mind off things while he was here. He also needed the liquor. _

_A part of him felt guilty for abandoning Caroline with Grayson, but Grayson seemed to be in good hands between her, Rebekah, Kol, and Bonnie. They were co-parents. He didn't need to be at Caroline's side every second. _

"So it looks like now that I'll be in town for a while I'll have lots of time to woo Barbie Caroline," Damon said enthusiastically. "Perhaps you can put in a good word for me?" he added

_He raised his eyebrows, ignoring Damon's suggestion by taking a lengthy drink from his glass. _

_Damon held up his hands in defence. _

"If you want her for yourself, I'll back off. Just say the word. I wouldn't blame you if you did. She looks like a great lay; she's a great lay isn't she?" Damon asked him giddily.

_He held his composure, distracting himself with his drink. _

"I know that look in your eye; she totally is," Damon mused. "God, how are you going to be able to resist her?" Damon probed. "I guaran-fucking-tee you that every night after you and Caroline put little Grayson to bed, she'll be aching for you to take her to bed."

_He cringed, almost embarrassingly, at Damon's bluntness before arching an eyebrow at him._

"And I guaran-fucking-tee you that you're wrong, mate," he said, mocking Damon confidently.

_Damon shook his head unconvinced. _

"So you're really telling me that you're just gonna sit idly by when Caroline disappears upstairs for a 'bath' or to 'sleep'?" Damon wondered in disbelief. "What's a girl to do when her batteries run low?" Damon smirked.

"Perhaps I'll give her your number then," he teased at his own expense.

"I can't argue with that," Damon chuckled, "but for the record, you are insane," Damon emphasized happily.

"No, I'm just looking out for Grayson," he reasoned. "Sleeping with Caroline was a mistake then, and it would be even more of a mistake now that we have him to take care of."

_It was then that he heard a feminine throat clear from behind him. _

_His body tensed as he turned hesitantly towards the source. _

_Caroline was standing there, arms crossed, with a blank expression on her face. _

_He could tell without much evidence that she had heard everything he said. _

"Caroline, it's good to see you," Damon said merrily, clearly just as buzzed as he was.

_She gave him a curt nod before turning an unimpressed glare back onto him. _

"We're leaving," she announced flatly, that fact made obvious by the coat she was wearing and her purse on her shoulder.

_Damon stepped off his bar chair quickly, offering it up to Caroline. _

"Why don't you join us for a drink?" Damon suggested.

"Thanks, but there is a six month old in the car waiting with Kol and Bonnie to be fed and then put to sleep," she said sternly. "Are you coming?" she asked him.

_Both she and Damon were eyeing him expectantly. _

_He shrugged. _

"I think I'm going to stay for one more," he decided, unsurprised when Caroline frowned.

"How are you two going to get home?" she asked.

_He and Damon exchanged looks with one another. _

"I can drive them home after my shift," Vicki said from behind the bar.

_Caroline's eyebrows furrowed disapprovingly. _

"See? Designated driver has been secured," Damon said, glancing both at him and Vicki. "Don't worry, I'll keep an eye on him," Damon winked at Caroline.

_Her contorted expression relaxed, not in relief, but defeat as she looked between Vicki and Damon. _

"Fine," she sighed. "Have fun."

* * *

_He and Damon had worked their way through some more drinks and a few appetizers when they decided to take a smoke break outside. Surprisingly, this had only been one of the few he had today. He wasn't sure if he could attribute his cutback to Grayson or the cold weather though. _

_When they came back inside, he stopped at the washroom with Damon's assurance that he would order them some more food and drinks. _

_However, when he emerged, Damon wasn't at the bar. _

_It wasn't that late yet, but considering it was a Monday, the place was virtually empty, save for a few teenagers in the restaurant and some older guys he assumed to be regulars sitting at the bar. _

_He couldn't find Damon anywhere as he returned to his seat. _

"Damon, that's his name wasn't it? He just left. He said he had some important business to attend to in the morning and needed to get some sleep. I called him a cab," Vicki informed him as she started to wipe down the bar.

_He scowled under his breath discreetly, knowing exactly why Damon had left. It was classic wingman behaviour. _

_Nevertheless, he accepted Vicki's reason and sat back down. _

"He ordered you another drink and paid off your tab," Vicki revealed.

_He knew there was a reason he liked Damon on occasion. _

"Are you two close friends?" she inquired.

_He laughed as he drank readily from the new drink. _

"We're not friends," he stated. "More like hostile acquaintances," he mused.

"I haven't seen him around town before," she commented.

"He's not from here, he's only..." he said cryptically, "here for...Elijah."

_Vicki nodded. _

"What about the other guy? He's been in here before," she said.

"Stefan; he and Damon are brothers. He lives here with his girlfriend," he explained indifferently as he picked through the remaining chips from the last appetizer. "We all sort of grew up together," he said, hoping she would stop with the inquisition.

"And the pretty blonde who was over here earlier, is she your girlfriend?" Vicki wondered, almost self-consciously. "She looks familiar...she's been in here a couple times."

_He shook his head. _

"No, she's not my girlfriend," he sighed. "She's...was Elena's best friend."

_A partial look of relief appeared on Vicki's features, but she still didn't appear reassured. _

"We're raising Elijah and Elena's son together," he said, feeling the need to clarify the nature of their relationship.

_This added detail seemed to surprise her. _

"The sixth month old," Vicki concluded, obviously having heard Caroline's earlier reference to Grayson.

_He nodded. _

"That's a significant commitment. I guess you'll be in town for a while then," she surmised.

_She was beginning to sound like Stefan now. He groaned under his breath. _

"Only until we obtain permanent custody and figure out a workable custody arrangement between us," he reaffirmed to her and himself.

"Well I respect you for doing something like this for your brother. Not many would. You two must have been really close," she suspected.

"Yeah," he breathed quietly, hoping Vicki would get that discussing his relationship with Elijah was not something he was interested in.

"My brother Matt and I are like that," she said quickly, saving their conversation from tumbling into awkwardness. "I would do anything for him."

_He smirked. _

"Like bartend at his restaurant and deal with the rift raft of Mystic Falls, offering the inebriated patrons rides home after your shift?" he mused.

_She blushed. _

"Hey, I don't offer rides home to everyone," she pointed out.

"So, I'm the exception?" he said.

_Smirking, she untied her apron. _

"Maybe," she said teasingly. "My shift is pretty much done, so let me go grab my things from the back and then we can leave."

_She returned a few minutes later dressed in a plain white v-neck t-shirt and a pair of skinny jeans, purposely meant to accentuate her features. _

_His eyes admired her discreetly as she put her coat on. _

"Are you ready to go?" she asked.

_He nodded, standing up from his chair and throwing his own jacket on. _

_Following her out back, she took them to an older compact car. _

_As he got in the passenger side, she threw her things in the back before getting in herself. The engine started on the second try and she promptly turned the heat on. _

_They didn't talk much, save for him providing her with the directions to Elena and Elijah's house. _

_He almost felt embarrassed. He felt like his game was severely lacking. Damon had provided him with a clear opening, but he was fucking it up at every turn and didn't know quite how to recover. He should have been talking to her; asking her questions as though he was interested, complimenting her eyes and the colour of her hair, but he couldn't even force himself to pretend. _

_When they pulled up in front of the house, Vicki let out a subtle 'awe' at the picturesque family home. _

_The house was completely darkened and he figured everyone must have went to bed. _

"Thanks for the ride," he offered as he went for the door.

_He paused though as he reached into his pocket. _

"Shit," he complained.

_Vicki looked at him questioningly. _

"I don't have a key to get in the house," he realized. "Fuck."

"Why don't you try the doors?" Vicki suggested, "I'll wait here."

_He climbed out of the car, following her idea, first checking the locked front door and then the locked back door_.

_When he circled back to the front of the house, Vicki was still there waiting. _

_He thought about texting someone in the house or ringing the doorbell, but he didn't want to wake anyone. Moreover, he didn't feel like facing the wrath that was sure to come from Caroline, or Bonnie and Kol for that matter. He wasn't going to play pathetic tonight, either. _

_Striding back to the car, he opened the door. _

"It looks like I'm locked out," he informed her.

_He thought he could see a smile on her face. _

"Get back in, you can crash at my place," she offered.

_Grabbing a hold of the invitation without much hesitation, he got back in the car. _

_She drove them almost to the opposite end of town before pulling into a driveway in front of an average white house. _

"My brother and I are living together for now," she told him as they both climbed out of the car.

_He stopped reluctantly. _

"He's not home. He won't be home until later. He'll be in his office back at the Grill crunching numbers," she laughed.

_Nodding, he followed her to the side door of the house. _

_She unlocked the door and let them both inside. _

"Ignore the mess. When my brother isn't obsessing over work, he likes to renovate in his spare time. It's an annoying hobby, which is why I need to move out as soon as possible," she said.

_Stepping out of her shoes, she draped her coat over the sofa in the living room and dropped her bag on the floor before she entered what appeared to be the kitchen. _

_After walking over the partially removed tile floor, he found her at the counter with a bottle of tequila in hand, filling two shot glasses. _

"This is my after work routine," she laughed, turning around to hand him his shot.

_He arched an eyebrow. _

"After work shots with strange men?" he said playfully.

_She pushed his shoulder with a flirty laugh. _

"No, the shot," she corrected defensively. "It helps me sleep."

_He couldn't fault her for that. He had relied on alcohol much too often to induce sleep - especially in the last few days. _

_She moved closer to him, now with her shot in hand. _

_Clinking her glass gently against his, she tipped her head back and brought the drink to her lips. _

_He watched her before taking his own. _

_Bringing his head back down, he found her staring at him intently. _

_He noticed a small dribble of liquor pooled at the edge of her pouted bottom lip. _

_Instinctively, he brought his hand to her face and collected the remaining drop with his thumb. _

_She was eyeing him anticipatorily. He never failed to recognize that look. _

_Ignoring the annoying reluctance that had seemed to have had the better of him all night, he dipped his head down and replaced his thumb with his lips._

* * *

_As she lied awake, unable to return to sleep after getting up a half hour ago with Grayson, she could have sworn she heard a car and the subsequent shutting of doors out front. _

_She listened carefully for any noise downstairs that might be evidence of his return, but things stayed quiet. _

_It was after eleven and he still wasn't home. _

_She had discovered as much when she went downstairs with Grayson and found the couch vacant. _

_The bartender should have been done her shift by now. _

_She looked at her phone briefly for any messages, the glow from the screen stinging her eyes. _

_There was nothing. _

_Perhaps they had dropped Damon off first. _

_She felt an unfamiliar pang of worry spread throughout her chest. _

_Scoffing at herself, she dropped her phone back down on the nightstand. _

_This was pathetic. She was pathetic. _

_Why did she care where he was? Why was she letting it concern her? She shouldn't be worrying over someone who completely disregarded her tonight. _

_After he had abandoned them at the Grill, preferring the seclusion of the bar, the liquor, and the advances from the bartender, she was pissed then and she still was now._

_This had nothing to do with personal jealousy or resentment over the conversation she had overheard, she quickly assured herself, because she basically agreed with him. _

_This had to do with Grayson. _

_They had agreed to raise Grayson together. He didn't get to come and go as he pleased, leaving her as Grayson's default caregiver. Would he leave Grayson with her every time he decided he needed a drink or some ass, assuming she would just be there? Maybe she wanted time to herself too? Klaus arbitrarily deciding when he was going to be around for Grayson and when he wasn't was not going to work. It wasn't fair to her or Grayson. _

_Perhaps the sick feeling in her stomach was due to her second-guessing herself; second-guessing their decision to raise Grayson together. She didn't want to do this if this is what it was going to be like. _

_No, she didn't expect him to be around all the time, but they had to mutually agree upon their free time if they were going to genuinely share responsibility of him. _

_He owed it to her to at least inform her of his plans rather than leaving her to speculate about all the horrible things that might have happened to him because he owed that much to Grayson. _

_She couldn't care less that he was probably out with the bartender getting his dick wet. _

_His promiscuity wasn't the point. _

_The point was how his reckless behaviour negatively affected Grayson and thus negatively affected her. _

_That is why she was upset and unable to sleep. _

* * *

**A/N: *cringes as she awaits her inbox to be filled with angry reviews*  
**

**So I know some of you probably hate me right now and would have much preferred Klaus and Caroline to engage in a little grief sex instead of Klaus and Vicki, but it was not to be. **

**This is a slow process for Klaus and Caroline and I understand if some of you more impatient readers give my story up... **

**That said, this is who Klaus is at the present moment. He's not in love with Caroline...yet (it's only been a weekend), although that process has already begun. In addition to who he is right now, it could be argued that this process is also a part of why the chapter ended as it did. Remember what happened the last time Klaus started to feel something more for Caroline?**

**If you don't hate me enough to read the next chapter, this is what you can expect: Girl talk, Kennett, Klaus doing the walk of shame, and a Klaroline confrontation. **


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: Hey there! Sorry for the update delay. Writer's block, new ideas, and the length are responsible. **

**Thanks to my amazing beta for putting up with me and this chapter. **

**Thank you so much for enjoying the last two chapters. I'm happy that most of you don't hate me for how chapter 9 ended. Most of you have been very understanding. **

**I'm going to take some time to clear up some concerns just in case you didn't notice my post on tumblr... **

**For any of you who are still concerned about Klaus's behaviour, this is very much a Klaroline story. Keep that in mind. **

**Klaus is not going to knock up Vicki. **

**I know you don't like Camille now, but she might surprise you eventually. Please trust me on this. **

**Lastly, I was pleased and overwhelmed to see that the majority of you want Caroline to give Klaus a taste of his own medicine and that you want her to have some fun too. She will. I promise. That said, she isn't Klaus. It would be out of character of her to go down to the bar this second and hook up with a guy. Especially now that she has Grayson to consider and Klaus's behaviour to make up for. She may have hooked up with Klaus, in HSG but that was not her typical behaviour. Caroline's 'revenge' (she won't intentionally be seeking revenge on Klaus for the record) will be more discreet and gradual. **

**Anyways, I know this chapter is long, but if you can find it in your hearts to review when your finish, I'll love you forever.**

* * *

_She wasn't quite sure what time she had managed to fall asleep the previous night, but she knew it was late judging by how exhausted she felt when Grayson's cries woke her up. _

_Stretching and whimpering discontentedly, she reached for her phone on the nightstand to check the time. _

_It was nearly six thirty in the morning. It was still dark outside. _

_She was unsurprised to find her inbox void of new messages. _

_Climbing out of bed, she released an annoyed yawn. _

_With her eyes partially closed, she stopped off at the bathroom first to relieve herself and splash some water in her face to wake up. _

_Grayson was sobbing furiously when she entered his nursery. _

_She winced at the sound. _

"What's the matter?" she sighed, trying her best to sound concerned as opposed to resentful.

_All she really wanted to do was crawl back into bed. _

_His cries persisted when she picked him up. _

_Even though she knew he was either angling for a diaper change or a bottle, she couldn't help but wonder if he was noticing Elena and Elijah's absence. _

_She changed his diaper and dressed him in a white onesie with an assortment of colourful zoo animals on it. _

_Still, he cried. _

_She bounced him in her arms and whispered reassuring words as she took him downstairs, but she felt like that only made it worse. _

_Using the under cabinet lights in the kitchen as her guide, she made her way down the darkened hall with Grayson. _

_Klaus had obviously not returned home from the night before, she concluded; he would have shut the lights off if he had. _

_The couch in the family room was empty. The blankets and pillow he had used were still folded and piled neatly in the corner from when they had the open house yesterday afternoon. _

_She cursed him silently as she placed a still screaming Grayson into his highchair. _

_Hurriedly, she started prepping his bottle in hopes that would calm him down. She didn't want Bonnie and Kol to wake up from the noise. They were leaving later today and would need to be well rested for their trip - especially Kol. _

_They were now onto the frozen reserves of Elena's milk. She would need to make a trip to the grocery store to pick up formula to start supplementing; she would need to go to the grocery store for basic necessities for herself. _

_Once the bottle was prepared she handed it to Grayson with bated breath. He took it readily. His cries were stifled by the bottle. _

_She smiled thankfully. _

_Confident that he was content with the bottle for now, she headed desperately for the coffee pot. _

_She sat with Grayson at the table for a while, drinking her coffee as he sucked eagerly at his bottle. _

_All she wanted to do was put her head down on the table and try for sleep, but with Kol and Bonnie still asleep and Klaus god knows where, she couldn't as long as Grayson was awake. _

_She had to stop pretending that she didn't know where Klaus was. She was confident that he did not leave the bar with Damon. If memory served her correctly, Klaus wasn't a big fan of Damon's. She also doubted that he ended up at Stefan's since Stefan and Meredith had left the Grill before they had. _

_He was with the bartender, either sleeping in or having another round. _

_She scowled resentfully. _

_While Klaus was off tending to his needs without a care in the world, she was here awake with Grayson before the sun even was even up. _

_They needed to have a talk about priorities and responsibilities. _

_She had to confront him about this. She couldn't let him walk all over her. She couldn't let him treat Grayson as though he was a negligible commitment. How would he handle Grayson on his own in New York six months from now?_

_He couldn't behave this way if they were going to share responsibility of Grayson, and he certainly couldn't behave this way if he was serious about proving to his parents that he was capable of raising him. _

_She rested her head against her palm and watched Grayson drink. _

_Klaus's actions infuriated her. _

_Granted, he had just lost his brother, but she had lost Elena - who was like a sister to her - and she wasn't drinking at a bar and hooking up with a random guy. _

_She couldn't comprehend his reasoning when their responsibilities seemed so cut and dry to her. _

_He told her they weren't going to screw up with Grayson, and yet, he was doing exactly that. _

_Thinking about it only made her angrier. _

_She wasn't sure she'd be able to hold her composure when she confronted him once he decided to return. She wasn't sure he deserved her composure in the first place. _

_With just under half the milk in his bottle remaining, Grayson tossed it aside, startling her as the bottle hit the floor. _

_She picked up the no-spill bottle from the floor and set it on the table, eyeing Grayson curiously as he started to grow fussy again. _

"What's the matter, bud?" she wondered.

_Grayson had a decent appetite. If there was one thing she learned about his habits, it was that he could polish off his morning bottle with no issue. _

_He whined a little and his face began to contort, as though he was warning her about his impending break down. _

_Before long, he erupted into a full on cry. _

_She removed him from his highchair, feeling discouraged. _

"I woke up with you, I changed your diaper, changed your clothes, I fed you; what could possibly be wrong? She wondered as she wiped his face clean from dribbled milk and drool.

_He thrust his hands against her and kicked his feet against her stomach in protest. _

_She wasn't sure what to try next to calm him down. _

_Perhaps this was a mood of his that Elijah and Elena had forewarned her about before they left. Maybe he really wasn't the angelic baby she had thought he was. _

_She hated that he couldn't speak to her to tell her what was wrong. It was frustrating. _

_After walking with him around the kitchen in an effort to console him to no avail, she brought him into the family room and sat him down beside his toy box. _

_She removed some of the toys, hoping they would at least provide a distraction to stifle his loud cries. _

_If Bonnie and Kol weren't already awake, they probably were now. _

"Look, Grayson," she said, holding up various toys to capture his attention.

_She purposely located the ones she knew lit up or made noise, desperate to make him forget about whatever was causing him distress. _

_Nothing kept him occupied for long, and once they had gone through every toy in the box, Grayson was crying again, pacified only slightly by various toys he opted to curl his lips around. _

_She huffed guiltily when she heard footsteps upstairs. _

_Grayson's vocal complaints had obviously woken someone. _

_A few minutes later, a drowsy Kol and Bonnie both appeared in the kitchen; Kol in sweatpants and a Batman t-shirt, Bonnie in sweatpants and one of Kol's school t-shirts. _

_She smiled inwardly at Bonnie's choice of bedtime attire, recalling a time when Bonnie declared that a girl wearing their significant other's clothing was stupid and sexist. _

_Kol yawned loudly and rubbed his eyes before glancing around the kitchen and the family room. _

_Bonnie headed promptly for the coffee pot. _

"Where's Nik?" Kol wondered.

_She knew that question was coming and for some reason she dreaded it. Perhaps she felt second-hand embarrassment or maybe she was expecting a barrage of 'I told you so' comments to be thrown her way. _

"I don't know," she attempted to say indifferently as she tried to rub Grayson's back soothingly. "I don't think he came home last night."

_Kol frowned and scoffed, not at her, but at Klaus's behaviour. _

_She noticed Bonnie glaring at her from behind the kitchen counter. _

"I knew leaving him at the bar last night was a bad idea," Kol groaned.

_Both she and Bonnie shrugged. _

"What else were we supposed to do?" Bonnie asked him. "It's not like we could drag him out of there. He needs to learn to take responsibility on his own."

"I know that," Kol said disappointedly.

"Has he called or texted you?" Bonnie asked her.

_She shook her head and Bonnie rolled her eyes as though all her concerns about Klaus were being confirmed. _

"Well if he's not here, then where is he?" Bonnie wondered.

"He's probably with Damon..." Kol hesitated.

_She sighed in annoyance, frustrated that Kol felt the need to censor her from the other option._

"Or he's with the bartender," she suggested, filling in the space Kol had left purposely blank.

"Or that," Kol confirmed reluctantly as he and Bonnie eyed her with concern.

_This wasn't a topic that required kid gloves with her and she hated that they thought it did. _

"What?" she asked defensively.

_Kol shrugged and Bonnie shook her head dismissively. _

"I feel like you're expecting a reaction from me. I couldn't care less where Klaus is, or who he's with. My concern right now is that I'm running on little sleep, I can't get Grayson to settle down, and the person who's supposed to be helping me with him most is nowhere to be found. Those are my concerns," she stated firmly.

"Nik probably didn't stay out all night purposely to spite you," Kol told her. "He's just not used to putting someone else before himself, and this is just what he does when he's feeling overwhelmed."

_Bonnie glared at Kol, handing him a coffee mug as she passed him, heading towards her and Grayson. _

"That's not an excuse," Bonnie said critically.

_Kol shook his head readily. _

"I'm not trying to make any for him. I'm just trying to explain his behaviour," Kol clarified.

_There was a small part of her who wanted to sympathize with Klaus, but she refrained. Klaus was an adult, as was she. They were adults with responsibilities. They didn't have the luxury of tuning out when they felt overwhelmed. _

_Bonnie disregarded Kol and looked down at Grayson with concern. _

"What do you think has Grayson so worked up?" Bonnie inquired, thankfully changing the subject.

"I don't know," she replied. "I've fed him, I've changed him, I've tried to play with him; none of it is working."

_Bonnie kneeled down on the floor beside them, placing her cup on the coffee table. _

"Maybe he's sick?" Bonnie proposed, reaching out to feel Grayson's forehead.

_She looked at Grayson worriedly. _

"His temperature feels okay," Bonnie confirmed as she set Grayson in her lap.

"He was a little fussy when he ate, but he still has an appetite," she said. "His diaper didn't look any different when I changed it earlier," she added.

_Bonnie cuddled Grayson who was still whimpering in discomfort. _

"Maybe he misses _them_?" Bonnie suggested.

_She hated to think that he might be suffering from Elijah and Elena's absence. It wasn't something that could be remedied easily. _

"Do you think he can sense that they're gone?" she wondered, looking both at Bonnie and Kol.

_They exchanged silent glances of concern. _

_She sat back against the couch feeling overwhelmed by a sudden sadness for Grayson and frustrated that there might be nothing she could do for him. _

"Or maybe he just isn't feeling good," Kol restated, obviously trying to take their minds off the other possibility.

"Why don't you go upstairs and try and get some more sleep? Kol and I can take care of Grayson for a while," Bonnie offered.

_She hesitated. _

"You two should be the ones trying to get some more sleep. You have a flight to catch later on," she reasoned.

_Bonnie shook her head. _

"And then you won't have us to rely on at all," Bonnie said, implying backhandedly that she wouldn't be able to rely on Klaus either.

_It was unsettling to think that later tonight Bonnie and Kol would be gone. She had grown used to them being here. They had been a huge help and a welcomed distraction. She didn't want to see them go. _

"Take advantage of us while you can," Kol chuckled.

"Okay," she nodded appreciatively.

_Kol frowned. _

"How come when I ask Bonnie to take advantage of me, it never works that easily?" Kol mused. "I'm a limited time offer."

_Bonnie shot Kol a glare of disapproval. _

_She smirked. _

"Thanks guys. I don't know how much sleep I'll get if Grayson is down here crying up a storm, but I'll try," she decided.

* * *

_He had barely slept at all that night. The alcohol and sexual relief were not even enough to sedate him. He lay uncomfortably on one side of the small double bed facing away from the bartender who had opted to take him home for the entire night. He never once faced her. _

_This was precisely why he never spent the night with a woman. It was awkward and cramped. _

_She had tried to lie next to him several times in the night, but he only moved further away until he was practically on the edge of the mattress. _

_It's not like he had anywhere else to go, though. Hell, had it been summer, he would have chose to crash outside somewhere._

_He considered getting up and making the long walk back to the house, banging on the door until someone let him in, but he didn't feel like being chastised. _

_So, he stayed here instead. Awake in the darkness, his mind raced for hours, mostly between thoughts of Elijah and Grayson. _

_He still couldn't comprehend the fact that his brother was gone. He didn't want to comprehend it. Seeing Grayson in the cemetery in between his parents' caskets was probably the most horrific thing he had ever seen. _

_Compared to Elijah and Elena, he and Caroline were poor substitutes for Grayson; well at least he was, anyways. _

_Last night had proven as much. He had decided to stay at the bar, rather than leave with Grayson and Caroline. Mind you, by the time he made that decision his judgement was impaired by alcohol. _

_Yesterday had gotten the better of him; it was too much for him to handle. By the time he got to the Grill, he was already burnt out from the stress of the morning and his parents. _

_He didn't even want to think about his parents. He had to keep himself from worrying about them and what they were up to until they actually made a move. Thinking about them only made him feel worse; it only made him feel guiltier for his actions. _

_Caroline would be pissed with him; he fully expected it. _

_He had lapsed back into his old behaviour that she had called him out on only a few days ago, despite the fact that afterwards he had been so keen to prove her and everyone else wrong. _

_He fucked up. Of course she was going to be upset. _

_It was already a fact last night when she had confronted him at the Grill about leaving. He supposed her overhearing him refer to their hook-up being a mistake hadn't helped his cause either. He wasn't even sure what he meant by the comment when he said it. He wasn't even sure he agreed with that harsh assessment in hindsight, but he felt compelled to get Damon off his back. Regardless, she heard what he said and what girl wouldn't be offended by being referred to as a mistake?_

_He looked briefly over at Vicki. _

_And so he had dug his hole a little deeper, and he could have redeemed himself a little by deciding to go with Caroline, but he had chosen to stay behind with Damon and then go home with Vicki. _

_From what he could remember, the sex wasn't even that great to be worth the scolding he'd receive when he returned back to the house. _

_That's not to say Vicki wasn't attractive, because in most respects she was. But the sex was routine and mechanical. There was nothing exciting about it. It was lacking - what, he wasn't entirely sure. It was uninspired to say the least, but it served its purpose._

_After a bout of whiskey dick, they made out awhile and she gave him a mediocre blow job in the kitchen. When her knees got too sore, she brought him to her bedroom where they clumsily stripped each other of their clothes. He fucked her from behind over the edge of her bed until he finally came to thoughts of other women; one particular blonde woman, if he cared to be unbearably honest with himself. _

_Once the thoughts started, they were relentless. He couldn't help himself from imagining that it was her on her knees beneath him rather than Vicki. _

_He cringed with shame and embarrassment, hating that he still thought about her that way. Now, even more so, being that he was back in Mystic Falls raising a child with her and not some relative stranger to her in New York. _

_It annoyed him that she had seemed to have left such an impassioned impression upon him. _

_He preferred to chalk his most recent thoughts up to the fact that they had been in close proximity to one another in the last few days. Of course, she would be on his mind. _

_That line of reasoning seemed to work well for him and put his concerns at ease. _

_He didn't want to fall into the trap of Kol's warnings. He didn't want to fulfill Damon's inappropriate premonitions._

_There was no real threat of this happening anyways he assured himself, in spite of the impure thoughts he sometimes had of her. Caroline loathing him was the best kind of insurance he had. _

_His personal history with Caroline was in the past. Grayson was the only thing they shared between them now. _

_Even that was on thin ice, he knew; not just because of his parents, but because he was his own worst enemy. _

_He could hear his cell phone vibrating in his pants somewhere on the floor. _

_Sitting up, he rolled off the mattress and reached for his pants and took out the phone. _

_Upright, his hangover began to hit him instantly. _

_He made note of the time; it was after ten in the morning. It was later than he thought it was. _

_Initially, he expected the text to be from Caroline, but it was Kol. _

'_Where the fuck r u?' the message read. _

_So he wasn't wrong in assuming the entire house would have it out for him today. _

_He promptly texted Kol and asked if he would come pick him up. _

_Kol responded, surprisingly agreeing to his request. _

_Vicki was shuffling on the bed behind him, obviously having heard his phone go off. _

_Glancing over his shoulder, he noticed her sitting up on her elbows, half-awake. _

"What time is it?" she croaked.

"After ten," he replied casually, as he put on his pants.

_He proceeded to locate his socks and his shirt. _

"Do you want to stay for breakfast?" she asked, sitting up, her naked upper-half exposed as the blanket fell to her waist.

_The sight of her bare torso did nothing to convince him. _

_Staying longer, even just for breakfast, was last thing he wanted to do, aside from returning to Elijah and Elena's to be lambasted. _

_There was no point in delaying the inevitable, however. _

_He slipped into his shirt and shook his head. _

"Actually, I have to run," he said vaguely.

_He felt no inclination to elaborate. He didn't owe her an explanation. _

_She nodded passively. _

_He finished buttoning up his shirt and putting on his socks. _

"I had fun last night," she commented, with a small smile.

"Yeah," he said apathetically.

_His one-word reply didn't seem to discourage her. _

"Well, I'm sure I'll see you around the Grill, so let's do it again sometime," she suggested.

_He gave her a pensive look, but did not give her the enthusiastic response she was clearly fishing for from him. _

"My ride should be here soon," he stated.

_Vicki went to climb out of bed. _

_He held a hand out to stop her. _

"Just stay in bed," he told her. "I can see myself out."

* * *

_At some point, she managed to fall back to sleep. _

_It was more of a nap than anything. _

_She woke up two hours later. _

_Unable to stay asleep, even though she wanted to, she climbed out of bed. _

_She couldn't hear Grayson downstairs, though she could hear the faint sounds of the television. _

_Maybe Bonnie and Kol had managed to occupy Grayson with that. Elena wasn't a big fan of Grayson watching it at such a young age, but she had confessed to using it on occasion to get him to calm down. _

_She felt guilty leaving Grayson with Kol and Bonnie, but her desire to take a shower convinced her that a few more minutes wouldn't hurt. Come tomorrow, she might not have this time to herself. _

_After her shower, she dressed, straightened her hair, and applied some makeup to hide how heavy her eyes still appeared. _

_Downstairs, she found Bonnie by herself dusting in the family room. _

"Bonnie Bennett, stop cleaning," she ordered. "You don't have to do that."

_Bonnie shrugged innocently. _

"It's the least I can do. I wish I lived closer so I could help you out more," Bonnie admitted.

_She sighed at Bonnie's stubbornness. They were too much alike sometimes. _

"Where's Grayson?" she asked. "Where's Kol?" she wondered, noticing his absence as well.

"Grayson's upstairs napping, for now," Bonnie revealed. "We got him to settle down finally."

_She smiled thankfully, relieved that she hadn't woke him while she was in the bathroom. _

"And Kol? Let me guess, he's napping too?" she concluded bemusedly.

"Actually, he's gone to pick up Klaus," Bonnie informed her.

_She hesitated and looked at Bonnie questioningly. _

"He texted Klaus; Klaus asked him to pick him up," Bonnie explained, "from the bartender's house."

_Though she expected it, she still found herself slightly surprised. She also felt furious and anxiously sick to her stomach. Was this how he intended to take responsibility for Grayson? _

"It's okay to be angry," Bonnie assured her. "You have every right to be."

_She nodded and sat down on the sofa. _

"Klaus can't just come and go as he pleases while you stay behind to raise Grayson," Bonnie supported her. "It isn't fair."

"I know," she agreed.

"It isn't fair to you, and it isn't fair to Grayson," Bonnie continued, almost repeating exactly what she had said to herself the night before. "Klaus can't keep acting like this, especially once Grayson gets older and becomes more aware."

_She sighed discontentedly knowing what Bonnie was getting at before she even said it. _

"Maybe Klaus being involved isn't such a good idea?" Bonnie suggested as she sat down beside her. "Klaus being here is supposed to help you and be positive for Grayson. Instead, he only seems to be hurting you both."

"I'm not hurt, Bonnie," she said defensively. "I'm just angry."

_Bonnie glowered at her in disbelief. _

"Okay, so maybe there isn't a small part of you that's hurt over Klaus hooking up with the bartender," Bonnie conceded reluctantly, "but you are hurt that Klaus is betraying his commitment to Grayson, and ultimately to you."

_She tried not to let Bonnie's words get to her. _

"Bonnie, it's only been a weekend. This is a huge adjustment. We all need time," she said, stunned that she actually found herself making excuses for Klaus.

"How much time is enough? You can't just put things on pause until Klaus is ready. Grayson is here, he's growing, he needs you now," Bonnie countered.

"I know that, Bonnie, okay? I know that," she said. "But I also know that Grayson and Klaus can be good for one another. I've seen it. I just don't want to overreact and sabotage that for either of them," she reasoned.

_Bonnie narrowed her expression. _

"Don't get me wrong, Kol and I really want this to work out for the three of you, but you also need to acknowledge that with the good there comes bad. You need to determine if the good is worth it. You also need to do what's good for you. You can't just let this slide," Bonnie warned.

"I'm not going to. I plan to talk to Klaus once he gets back with Kol," she explained.

_Bonnie seemed satisfied with this and she relaxed._

"Kol and I are in your corner. Kol might be Klaus's brother, but he knows Klaus is in the wrong on this," Bonnie informed her.

_She supposed it was reassuring to know that Kol agreed with her perspective. She hadn't really considered how awkward it would be to call Klaus out on his bullshit while his brother was in the other room. _

"I guess Kol isn't as bad as I thought he was," she said to Bonnie.

_Bonnie laughed lightly and nodded in agreement. _

"No, he's not," Bonnie confirmed. "He can be really sweet when he wants to be."

"More like he can be sweet with a particular girl named Bonnie," she said.

_She noticed Bonnie blush a little. _

"You must be so excited that he'll be in New York with you for the summer," she commented, realizing they hadn't had much of a chance to discuss it given everything that had happened.

"It'll be interesting," Bonnie said hesitantly. "We've gotten used to living an ocean apart, so being in the same place will take some getting used to. I've never lived with the opposite sex before, well except for my father," Bonnie laughed.

"Neither have I," she affirmed. "I guess we'll kind of be going through the same thing together," she pointed out.

_Bonnie nodded in agreement. _

"Yeah, but at least you won't have to share your bed with Klaus," Bonnie snorted, clearly referring to her own relationship with Kol without much thought about the past. "At least you better not be," Bonnie warned as she realized the implications of her last comment.

_Ignoring Bonnie's remarks about her and Klaus, she arched an eyebrow at her. _

"You don't like sleeping with Kol?" she wondered.

"Don't get me wrong, I am more than ready to share a bed with him when we're awake," Bonnie winked suggestively, "but Kol is a notorious bed and blanket hog."

_She laughed. _

"Well he doesn't seem to mind sharing his clothes with you," she said, directing her focus on Bonnie's t-shirt.

_Bonnie blushed with embarrassment again as she looked down at the baggy shirt. _

"Remember when you said you would never wear your significant other's clothes because you didn't want to feel like his property?" she teased.

_Scoffing, Bonnie shrugged her off with a playful smirk. _

"I like this shirt," Bonnie explained innocently. "I like that it smells like him," she gushed.

_Bonnie's admission made her smile. It was no easy task getting Bonnie Bennett to own up to her feelings. _

"What?" Bonnie said, clearly annoyed by her amused grin.

"It's just cute," she answered, sighing longingly as she recalled a time when she would traipse around in Tyler's clothes when his parents were out of town or he snuck her upstairs to his bedroom.

_Bonnie gave her a sympathetic smile. _

"One day after things with Grayson settle down and Klaus returns to New York, you'll find someone who is going to fall in love with you and Grayson, Caroline," Bonnie reassured her.

_She shrugged indifferently, though the truth of the matter was that it was something she desperately wanted. She craved the companionship and intimacy Bonnie and Kol seemed to have...that Elena and Elijah had. After being alone for so long, she was starting to feel lonely; now, even more so. _

"Maybe you should try going to another one of those singles mixers at the Grill?" Bonnie suggested.

_Her nose scrunched up at that idea. _

"You know how well that went over the last time. I'm not looking for a one night stand," she said. "Plus, I know every single guy in town. It's a small place. I'm not interested."

"Maybe you should try online dating?" Bonnie recommended.

_She scrunched up her nose even further at that idea. _

"Sorry, but I don't feel like being raped and murdered by some creep off the internet either," she scoffed.

"I know a lot of people who've met their significant others through online dating. It's not as sketchy as you think. At least if you use the more reputable sites that you have to pay for," Bonnie clarified.

_She shook her head. _

"I'm not that concerned about it, Bonnie," she told her friend. "If it happens, it happens, if it doesn't, it doesn't," she resigned. "I'm not desperate."

"No one said you were," Bonnie assured her. "I just want you to be happy."

"I am," she said quickly. "Well, as happy as I can be, in lieu of the circumstances," she added, glancing around Elena and Elijah's family room.

"And I don't want you to be alone," Bonnie said.

_She smiled at Bonnie, trying to be appreciative. _

"I'm not alone. I have Grayson," she told her.

_Bonnie scowled a little. _

"You know what I mean," Bonnie said.

_She nodded. _

"It sounds like Kol wants to share more than his clothes with you," she said hurriedly, eager to take the spotlight off her romantic life - or lack thereof.

_Bonnie eyed her curiously. _

"Kol alluded to marriage the other night at dinner," she elaborated.

"He was just saying that to rile his parents up," Bonnie claimed, despite the undeniable twinkle in her eye at her mention of marriage.

_She glared at Bonnie incredulously. _

"I believe he said 'maybe someday'" she reminded Bonnie.

_Bonnie shrugged her shoulders in defeat. _

"Okay, so we've talked about it," Bonnie admitted. "But it's not like he's proposed or anything. If we did get married, it wouldn't be until we were finished school and could afford it."

_She smirked at Bonnie's admission before giving her a small excited squeal. _

"If I ever get married, I think I'll elope," she concluded, getting lost in the fantasy of it all.

"What happened to the Caroline Forbes who wanted the big wedding with all the attention on her?" Bonnie teased with wide eyes.

"I still like that idea," she revealed. "But I also appreciate the romance and intimacy of something more low key. Plus it's cheap."

_Her last point seemed to resonate with Bonnie. _

"I don't know how we're ever going to pay for a wedding even once Kol and I are done school," Bonnie sighed.

"Maybe you should ask Kol's parents to pay for it?" she joked with a laugh.

_It felt good to laugh, and she continued especially after the unimpressed look Bonnie flashed her in response to her suggestion. _

"I'm sure they would love to," Bonnie said sarcastically.

"You and Kol should elope. Then you won't have to worry so much about cost and you wouldn't have to invite Mikael and Esther," she encouraged.

_Bonnie quickly shook her head. _

"As tempting as that sounds, my Grams and my parents would kill me if I did that," Bonnie laughed. "Plus, you already promised me awhile back that you would make me a dress like you did for Elena," Bonnie recalled.

_The conversation she had with Bonnie around the time she was making Elena's wedding dress came to mind. _

"I could still make you a dr..." -

_She was cut off by the ring of the doorbell. _

_Both she and Bonnie looked through to the living room towards the front hall. _

"I wonder who that is," she said curiously, climbing off the couch for the door.

_Bonnie followed behind her. _

_Opening the door cautiously, she made no effort to hold back the obvious frown that appeared on her lips. _

_Mikael and Esther stood on the porch expectantly with Rebekah behind them. _

_Speak of the devil, she thought to herself. _

"Caroline," Esther greeted with a forced smile.

_She stepped aside slightly and Mikael and Esther took this as tacit permission to enter, pushing the door open and moving passed her inside. _

_Neither of them acknowledged Bonnie. _

"Hi," she said reluctantly.

_Mikael's eyes dug into hers while Rebekah offered her a small apologetic smile. _

"I hope we're not intruding?" Mikael wondered indifferently.

_She attempted to stammer out a response. _

"Good," Mikael said before she could muster a reply.

_Esther dropped a large blue and yellow gift bag by the foot of the stairs as she began to unbutton her coat. _

"Where are Kol and Nik?" Rebekah inquired as she looked around.

_She panicked as both Mikael and Esther stared at her expectantly. _

_What would she say? Would she tell them Kol had gone to pick Klaus up at the house of his latest one-night stand? How would that look? It would be incriminating. _

"Kol and Klaus are out...running errands," Bonnie said quickly, covering for her hesitation.

_She nodded as confirmation. _

_Mikael and Esther looked at her and Bonnie suspiciously. _

"They really are domesticated, aren't they?" Mikael chuckled to himself. "I thought Niklaus would still be in bed considering his time spent at the bar last night."

_Her stomach curled into knots. Obviously, Finn and Sage had told them about Klaus's behaviour that they had seen before they left the Grill yesterday night. _

_Well at least they didn't know about where he ended up afterwards, she supposed. _

"That's unfortunate they aren't here. We're in a rush, but we wanted to stop by before we left to catch our flight," Esther explained.

_Esther nodded down towards the large gift bag. _

"We wanted to see Grayson before we left to give him the gifts we got. Some are from Finn and Sage, but they had to depart earlier this morning," Esther clarified.

_She really wasn't enthused to accept any gifts from them, but she didn't want to refuse Rebekah. _

"Is Grayson awake?" Rebekah asked hopefully.

"He just went down for his morning nap a half hour ago," Bonnie answered, having been the one to successfully get him to sleep.

_Esther frowned disappointedly while Rebekah seemed more understanding. _

"We can just leave the gifts here. Nik and Grayson can Skype with me later and open them," Rebekah suggested.

_As she began to nod in appreciation, Mikael interrupted her. _

"You can wake Grayson up a little early from his nap, can't you? What's one nap in the scheme of things? He can sleep later. We're here all the way from London," Mikael argued. "While I'm confident Grayson will be joining us there soon, you know how quickly babies grow."

_It was all she could do to hold back her jaw from falling open in shock. She couldn't believe what he just said. She wanted to wipe the pretentious smirk off of his face. _

"Well he's been a little fussy this morning," she revealed. "It's probably best if he's not disturbed."

_Mikael scowled. _

"If you let him nap too long, he won't sleep later," Esther pointed out. "Surely, it won't harm him to wake him now? We won't keep him long. Just a few minutes," she pushed.

_Normally around anyone else - friends, relatives, clients, or strangers - she could hold her ground, but the pressure she felt from Mikael and Esther was unbearable. And for some reason she felt the need to accommodate them and give them what they wanted, though she was supposed to be the one with the final say. _

"Fine, I'll go wake him up for you," she said, making little effort to hold back the bitter tone in her voice.

"You don't have to," Rebekah offered quickly, clearly feeling guilty for her parents' insistence.

_Mikael and Esther glared at their only daughter. _

"Caroline offered," Mikael reasoned.

_Now, according to Mikael, she had offered to wake Grayson up from his nap. _

_She groaned under her breath. _

"It's all right," she sighed, talking to Rebekah.

_It wasn't Rebekah's fault. _

_Rebekah relented with a frown. _

_As she ascended the stairs to Grayson's nursery, Rebekah followed behind. _

_She silently cursed Klaus for his absence. _

_He should be here to deal with his parents. Instead, she and Bonnie were left to fend for themselves. _

_If she had been smart, she wouldn't have answered the door in the first place. _

_She opened the door to the nursery quietly. _

"I'm sorry for my parents," Rebekah whispered. "You really don't have to do this."

"Don't apologize," she urged Rebekah as they peered over the crib to find Grayson stirring.

"He's such a sweetheart," Rebekah cooed.

_She picked up a half-asleep Grayson from his crib. _

"He wasn't such a sweetheart this morning," she mused. "He's been so grumpy."

"I assume Nik was the same way this morning after the way he was knocking back drinks at the bar yesterday night," Rebekah commented.

_She opted not to fill in Rebekah on the full reason behind Klaus's absence as she laid Grayson down on the changing table to check his diaper. _

"He can't spend his days hungover on the couch anymore. He has a baby to take care of. He'll learn eventually," Rebekah sighed.

_She nodded outwardly, inwardly hoping that Rebekah was right. _

_As she suspected, Grayson needed to be changed. She quickly began to ready the supplies while Rebekah watched. _

"I can't stand Nik when he drinks. Moreover, I can't stand Damon Salvatore. That's why I didn't bother going over there even to say goodbye last night before I left. It wasn't right of Nik to spend the entire time at the bar while you were left with Grayson."

_She shrugged uncomfortably. _

"It wasn't such a big deal. You, Bonnie, and Kol had him most of the time anyways," she pointed out.

"Still," Rebekah started. "I hope you gave him a proper scolding."

_She bit back a laugh at Rebekah's encouragement. _

"Seriously, Caroline," Rebekah urged, "he can't be acting like this; especially if Mother and Father decide to pursue the ridiculous notion of contesting your guardianship of Grayson."

"I know," she murmured as the mood turned serious.

_With Rebekah acting as a perfect distraction for Grayson, she finished changing his diaper and they returned downstairs. _

_Mikael, Esther, and Bonnie were still standing in the front hall by the door. _

_She caught the tail end of Mikael criticizing Kol's decision to move to New York for the summer. _

_Bonnie had never looked more relieved to see her in her life. _

_Grayson was already starting to get antsy at the mere sight of his grandparents. _

"There he is!" Esther said in a bubbly voice, reaching for Grayson as soon as she stepped from the last stair.

_She handed Grayson to Esther anxiously, expecting what Grayson's reaction would be. _

_He wasn't even in Esther's arms for a minute before he erupted into a fit. _

_She tensed, and offered to take Grayson back, but Esther held Grayson closer and tried to reassure him with words. _

_He cried harder. _

_She stepped back reluctantly, watching Esther with Grayson anxiously. _

_When Rebekah finally took Grayson from Esther, she let out the breath she had been holding. _

_Grayson still whimpered uncomfortably, but nothing compared to the shrill cries he had let out moments ago. _

_Rebekah sat on the stairs with Grayson in her lap as she pulled Grayson's gift bag beside them. _

_They watched as Rebekah encouraged Grayson to look inside the bag, but he wanted nothing to do with it. _

"Look at this, Grayson," Rebekah said sweetly, opting to reach into the bag herself.

_She pulled out a green plush dinosaur. _

_Grayson eyed it interestedly for a few moments, before pushing it away with his fists and squirming under Rebekah's hold. _

_After a second unsuccessful attempt to occupy him with another gift - a colourful rattle - Rebekah gave up. _

"I don't think he's interested right now," Rebekah conceded disappointedly.

"He sure is a whiny baby," Mikael observed negatively.

"No, he's just tired," she interjected.

_She noticed Bonnie try to hide a smirk as Rebekah handed Grayson back to her. _

_Rebekah placed the items back in the bag and stood up from the stairs in defeat. _

"You'll have to try Skyping with Klaus," she suggested to Rebekah. "I'll keep everything in the bag so you can watch him open it then," she offered.

"Thanks," Rebekah said, leaning in to give Grayson a kiss on the cheek.

"Thank you for the gifts," she told Rebekah.

_There was no way she was going to be directing any courtesies to Mikael and Esther. _

_Rebekah smiled. _

"We should probably be going anyways," Mikael said flatly. "The plane won't wait for us."

_He turned for the door without another glance. He hadn't even bothered to acknowledge Grayson though he had been so insistent that she wake him up. _

_Esther tried to reach for him to offer him a kiss and a soothing caress, but he shirked away from her. _

"I hope you like your gifts," Esther said to him affectionately, disregarding Grayson's protests.

_She scoffed under her breath as Esther shot her a cold stare. _

"I'm sure we'll be seeing you both soon," Esther commented, referring to her and Grayson, "once you and Niklaus have grown tired of playing house."

_It was all she could do not to mutter something spiteful back. She didn't want to incite them though. It would make things worse than they already were. _

_Kill them with kindness, she supposed. _

"Thanks for stopping by," she said, feigning politeness. "I'll let Klaus and Kol know that you were here. I'm sure they'll be sorry they missed you," she said with a subtle dash of sarcasm.

_Esther mirrored her fake smile as she followed Mikael to the door. _

"Goodbye, Bonnie," Esther said coldly as she walked by.

_Bonnie nodded indifferently before turning to her and Rebekah. _

"Keep in touch," Rebekah said to them encouragingly. "And keep my brothers in check," she added, looking at her in particular.

_She saw Mikael and Esther scowl. _

"We will," Bonnie answered for her as she gave Rebekah a hug.

_With Grayson in her arms, she hugged Rebekah next. _

"Hopefully, I'll be able to come visit again soon," Rebekah said.

"Without them, please," she whispered, referring to Mikael and Esther.

_Rebekah smiled knowingly as they pulled away from the embrace. _

"Bye bye, sweetie," Rebekah said to Grayson. "Auntie Bekah loves you."

_She gave him another quick kiss before joining her parents at the door. _

_Rebekah exchanged a final set of solemn goodbyes with them as Mikael and Esther left the house readily. _

_Once the door was shut, she felt the urge to gasp for air._

* * *

_He stood out in the driveway, despite the cool air, cigarette in hand, as he waited impatiently for Kol to arrive. He didn't want to be here any longer. _

_A cigarette and a half later, Kol finally pulled up in the car he and Bonnie had rented at the airport. _

_Dropping the cigarette on the pavement, he snuffed it out with his foot and approached the car reservedly. _

"Hey," he said timidly, climbing in the passenger side.

"How was your night out?" Kol asked both suggestively and sarcastically as he sped off down the side road.

_He cringed and shook his head. _

"Unmemorable," he said flatly.

"Well you did drink a lot," Kol pointed out.

_He glared at Kol purposefully to convey that it wasn't just the alcohol. _

"Are you really surprised that drunken sex with a bartender wasn't everything you thought it would be?" Kol laughed.

_He shrugged begrudgingly. _

"Well I hope you had a good sleep, because Grayson is miserable. He had us all up at the crack of dawn," Kol complained.

_He sighed under his breath both from guilt and concern over what he was about to walk into when they got back to the house. _

"Thanks for coming to get me," he said as they continued the drive through town.

_Kol snorted. _

"Well it was either I come to get you, or you would have made us pay for your taxi since you probably have no cash on you after your tasteless escapade at the bar last night," Kol remarked snidely.

_He deserved this. He expected this hostility. There was no use in being surprised or defensive. _

"I would have just walked," he sighed, forgetting briefly that Damon had paid off his bar tab and that he actually did have money.

_Kol laughed. _

"Of course you would have, because you wouldn't have the balls to dare call Caroline to come pick you up," Kol retorted.

_He slouched back in the seat guiltily. _

"She's pissed?" he murmured to his brother.

"Obviously," Kol scowled. "And why shouldn't she be? You are a complete ass, Nik."

_He raised his eyebrows and nodded accordingly. _

"I guess you weren't lying when you said you had effectively closed the door on that history book," Kol concluded. "If ever you were ever angling for a second chance with her, this is definitely not the way to go about it," Kol muttered.

"Who said I was?" he retorted.

_Kol shot him an incredulous glare before looking back on the road ahead of them. _

"Why do you care? You're the one who discouraged me in the first place," he pointed out.

"I didn't discourage you. I warned you of the consequences if you fucked it up," Kol corrected him.

_They were quiet for a moment as he tried to figure out what Kol was implying. _

"Regardless of all that drama, you fucked up last night," Kol restated. "Did you not listen to a damn thing I said to you the other night?" he chastised. "Technically speaking, you and Caroline have a child together now. You can't just go out whenever you feel like it. You need to consider Grayson and her first," Kol lamented. "You need to get your shit together or it's going to blowback on you if Mother and Father decide to contest your guardianship."

"I know," he sighed.

"Clearly, you don't," Kol replied. "Look, I get that you didn't want to be around a bunch of sympathetic strangers yesterday, but you should have at least left with us. Don't even get me started on the fact that you decided to get shit-faced and hook-up at what was essentially Elijah and Elena's funeral," Kol continued.

_He winced. _

"I don't need to be lectured," he stated simply, rubbing his temples as the onset of a hangover headache began.

_Kol shook his head in agreement. _

"No, you probably don't considering you'll get your fill from Caroline when we get back," Kol said amusedly as he turned into the grocery store parking lot.

"Why are we here?" he wondered, desperate to return to the house so he could get his confrontation with Caroline over before he showered and napped.

_Kol parked the car abruptly and removed the keys from the ignition. _

"You and Caroline need groceries, and Grayson's getting low on diapers and on frozen boob juice, so he needs formula," Kol informed him.

_He looked at his brother, surprised by his initiative. _

"It was Bonnie's idea. She made a list. We figured it's probably good way for you to start working your way back into Caroline's good graces," Kol grimaced.

_Kol and Bonnie's efforts to ease the wrath of Caroline he would experience when he returned home were unexpected. _

_He looked at Kol questioningly as he got out of the car. _

"Bonnie and I want this to work for Grayson's sake," Kol reasoned.

_He nodded. _

_Once in the grocery store, they stood aimlessly by the entrance trying to determine what department to start in first. _

_The lights in the store were blinding and the noise was deafening. He was cursing himself for drinking as much as he did the night before. _

"I think we should hit the cosmetics aisle first," Kol decided.

_His face contorted in confusion. _

"Cosmetics?" he inquired.

_Kol arched an eyebrow at him and laughed in disbelief. _

"Were you so wasted that you didn't feel the bartender try to tear skin from your neck?" Kol chuckled. "Those hickeys are insane."

_He felt his neck with his hands self-consciously, oblivious to the marks - the evidence - that had been left behind on his skin. _

_Holding his phone up to his face in hopes he'd see his reflection from the glare, he noticed a missed text message from Rebekah and an earlier one from Marcel that he had missed when Kol had texted him. _

_He sighed disappointedly as he read the one from Rebekah. _

"What is it?" Kol asked. "Do the hickeys look worse than you thought?" he joked.

"I missed a text from Bekah just before you picked me up. She said that she, Mother, and Father were going to stop by while they were in town before their flight," he revealed.

"They're likely already there now," Kol frowned, removing his own phone from his pocket to inspect it for messages. "Bekah texted me, too," Kol confirmed as he shook his head.

_As if he wasn't already expecting to be confronted by Caroline when he arrived home, it would probably be even worse now with his parents showing up in his absence. _

_Ignoring the text from Marcel, he put his phone in his pocket. _

"We'll probably miss them by the time we get back," Kol said.

_While the prospect of missing his parents altogether was something he didn't mind, he also didn't want Caroline to have to face them on her own. He trusted Rebekah, he knew they had her support, but he wouldn't put it past his parents to have ulterior motives with the visit. _

_If he didn't already feel guilty enough, this only added to it. _

"Bonnie isn't going to be happy," Kol said glumly.

"Bonnie isn't going to be happy? Caroline is going to be furious," he shuddered as his head pounded a little harder.

"Touché," Kol agreed.

"Let's just find what we need and get the hell out of here," he urged.

* * *

_He could have sworn he saw their parents and Rebekah drive by them on the way back to the house. _

_Though he would have liked to have said goodbye to his sister, he was relieved they had missed them even if it meant Caroline would probably be even angrier. _

_He'd rather that than a lecture from both Caroline and his parents. _

_After responding to Marcel's concerned inquiry into when his return to New York would be, he texted Rebekah an apology and wished her a safe trip back to the U.K. For a moment, he almost forgot what they were all doing back in Mystic Falls in the first place. _

_He ditched his last cigarette - he had chain smoked the entire ride home - out the window as they neared the house. _

_It seemed the closer they got, the more apprehensive he became. _

_Kol parked the car around back so they could unload their purchases - well his purchases. _

_He had never spent so much in one go at a grocery store before in his entire life. His credit card had been put to good use. Fruit, vegetables, meat, and dry goods were all well represented on the bill. Bonnie's list had been extensive and he wondered if she forgot that there would only be two people in addition to Grayson living at the house. Perhaps she had purposely over done it to spite him. _

_The most expensive items were those for Grayson. The formula was over a hundred dollars. The diapers were nearly fifty. That was in addition to the stockpile of baby food and baby wipes he had purchased. _

_They needed to get Elijah and Elena's accounts sorted out quickly because there was no way he could afford to drop this amount of cash every week for the next six months when he had no assurance of income during that time. He wouldn't be broke, but he would be teetering pretty close by the end of it. _

"You're about to walk into the lion's den," Kol mused, patting him on the back.

_He gave Kol an anxious glare as they both collected the grocery bags from the trunk of the car. _

_Kol led the way to the back door, tapping it with his foot, his hands too full to twist the knob or knock. _

_An unimpressed Bonnie opened the door for them and instantly his ears were greeted by the sound of Grayson's piercing cries. _

_His head throbbed harder. _

_He stepped inside behind Kol. _

_Looking into the family room, he noticed Caroline attempting to bounce Grayson soothingly in her arms as he screamed. _

"Look who decided to come back, Grayson," he overheard Caroline say to Grayson sweetly, though he could taste the venom in her words.

_They made brief eye contact before he entered the kitchen with the heavy grocery bags. _

"Your parents were here. You missed it," Bonnie said flatly, giving him a sour expression. "They actually made Caroline wake Grayson up just so they could see him before they left. Can you believe that?" she said bitterly, as she took a few of Kol's bags.

"Hence, why he's screaming at the top of his lungs?" Kol winced as he set the rest of his bags down and removed his coat.

_Bonnie nodded. _

_The screaming got louder as he noticed Caroline make her way into the kitchen from the corner of his eye. _

"What's all this?" Caroline wondered curiously, talking to no one in particular - especially not him.

"Klaus thought it would be a good idea to stop at the grocery store on our way back," Kol explained quickly over Grayson's cries. "We picked up some food, diapers, formula..." Kol listed.

_He glared at Kol's attempt to give him the credit for this idea. This was not his idea whatsoever. _

_Caroline looked at him both with intrigue and disdain at his apparent obvious attempt to return to her good graces. _

"I was going to go out this afternoon and do this," she said absently, trying to juggle Grayson in her arms as she attempted to peer into some of the bags on the floor.

_He shrugged. _

"Here, let me take him," Bonnie offered.

_Caroline placed Grayson in Bonnie's arms thankfully before kneeling down to inspect the groceries. _

"Chocolate peanut butter cup ice cream," Caroline observed interestedly as she took the tub out of one of the bags. "Bonnie and I just finished one of these last night," she added, looking at Bonnie curiously as she put the ice cream in the freezer.

_He glared at Kol in annoyance before turning his back to find a place in the cupboards for some of the other items he had purchased. _

_The situation was awkward to say the least. You could cut the tension in the air with a knife, and Bonnie and Kol standing there eyeing him expectantly as Grayson continued to sob made things no better. _

"I think Grayson might need to be changed," he heard Kol concluded randomly.

"I just changed him..." Caroline started.

"Yeah, Caroline just changed him," Bonnie confirmed.

- "Can't you smell that?" Kol interrupted. "It's probably why he's so grumpy."

_When he shut the cupboard and turned around, he saw Kol striding out of the kitchen, practically pushing Bonnie into the hall. _

_Leave it to Kol to make an uncomfortable situation more unpleasant. _

_While the pressure of having Kol and Bonnie present was momentarily relieved, and he could hear himself think now that Grayson was gone, he wasn't convinced that being alone in the kitchen with Caroline was preferable. _

_Caroline emptied another bag silently, as though purposely trying to ignore him. _

_He was unsure if he should opt for the passive aggressive silent treatment or a verbal confrontation. Neither had any appeal. _

_They were both walking on eggshells as he himself emptied another bag and she practically hid in the fridge to put the fruit and vegetables away. _

_When the fridge door shut a little harder than he expected, he looked up to find Caroline staring at him, arms crossed, and a threatening look in her eye. _

"So how was your night?" she asked critically. "Judging by the marks all over your neck, I'd say it was fantastic," she hissed.

_He sighed, deciding he might as well incite her and get this over with. He didn't want to play this drawn out game with her. _

"You can skip the false pleasantries, love. You and I both know that you really don't care about how my night was," he said.

_She huffed bitterly, standing directly opposite him with the kitchen island in between them. _

"You're right. I don't care about your night anymore than you care about mine or Grayson's," she seethed.

_He winced a little at her accusation. _

"That's not true," he protested.

_She arched an eyebrow at him and scoffed sarcastically. _

_He knew the evidence was stacked against him. _

"Isn't it?" she countered, "because I'm pretty sure you're utter lack of concern for anyone but yourself was made painfully clear last night and this morning," she added shakily.

_He shook his head in firm denial. _

"We just buried Elijah and Elena. I was upset. I needed to escape. I made a mistake," he said, even though he knew his excuse and his acknowledgement would do nothing to help his case.

"I was upset, too!" she snapped. "I wanted to escape too!" she said. "But I couldn't do that because I have responsibilities, and unlike you, I have no one to depend on to bear the weight of them when I can't or don't feel like it," she cried. "While I was busy taking care of _our_ responsibilities, you were busy making sure your dick was taken care of. While I was busy looking out for Grayson, you were busy looking out for you. The least you could have done was texted me to let me know where you were so I didn't spend half the night worrying," she hesitated.

_So she was worried about him. He looked at her curiously. _

"Elijah and Elena were just killed in a tragic accident, and you're gone the entire night without a word. What kind of conclusions do you think my mind is going to reach for?" she demanded.

_He scoffed defensively. He knew he was in the wrong, but he didn't like being called out on it. _

"Relax, Caroline. It was just one night," he argued.

"I don't care if it was one night, or ten," she said sternly. "That's not the point," she muttered. "The point is that you agreed to do this with me together. We agreed to share this responsibility. Sharing responsibility means that you don't get to come and go as you please. We need to be able to rely on each other and respect one another. Grayson needs to know that he can rely on us. He needs stability from you, not an occasional father figure, Klaus," Caroline quipped.

_Her final words struck a chord with him. _

"I know," he breathed.

"Well if you know that, then why are you acting like this?" she countered angrily. "Seriously, Klaus, if you don't want to be here, don't be here," she hesitated. "Just stop pretending that you do, if you don't. It's not fair to me or Grayson," Caroline sighed, rubbing her hands over her face.

_He looked up at her. _

"I want to be here," he said genuinely.

"Then start acting like it!" she barked. "We're supposed to be co-parents. I'm not a babysitter or a doormat. You need to share the responsibility with me."

"I'm trying!" he defended.

_She glared at him. _

"Well you need to try harder then, because completely disregarding me and staying out all night is not how you _share _responsibility," she stated.

"So I'm not allowed to go out anymore?" he retorted, raising his hands questioningly.

_She rolled her eyes. _

"That's not what I'm saying!" she lamented. "I'm saying that we need to both agree to our free time in advance. You can't dump Grayson in my arms whenever you have something else to do," she reasoned. "You can't expect me to pick up your slack all the time."

_He went to speak, but she continued to talk over him. _

"And your responsibility doesn't just end when you leave the house and go out to have fun," she warned. "You need to be thinking about Grayson all the time. He always needs to come first. You may think that last night was innocent fun, but every choice you make affects him."

_He eyed her incredulously. _

"Don't you think you're being a tad bit dramatic now?" he said. "I went out last night, I had too much to drink, and as you're already aware, I went home with someone. Aside from disregarding you, I don't think it was that big of a deal," he groaned.

_Her eyes widened sharply. _

"I'm being dramatic? Really?" she said. "When you fucked the bartender last night did you use contraception?" she inquired viciously.

_He glowered at her intrusive question. _

"Are you seriously asking me that question?" he wondered. "What does that have to do with anything? This sounds more like a question for your own curiosity," he countered.

_She scowled irately. _

"Well when the bartender gets knocked up with your kid because you didn't want to use a condom and you have two babies to take care of, I doubt you'll think that I was being dramatic then," she snapped. "Every choice you make affects Grayson," she reiterated.

_He rubbed a hand over his face in annoyed distress. _

_Truthfully though, he hadn't even thought of the consequences she was forewarning him of. _

"Oh for fuck's sake, I wrapped it all right? You of all people should know I don't fuck around when it comes to that," he bemoaned. "Satisfied?"

_The fact that he had even made reference to their sexual history hadn't even dawned on him until the words were already out of his mouth. _

_Caroline appeared hostile and horrified all at once. _

"No actually, I'm not, because that's only part of it," she spat. "Finn and Sage were at the Grill last night. You know that because you walked in with them. They saw you pound back drink after drink at the bar before they left with Rebekah. Did you really think they weren't going to tell your parents about that? Because they did; and your parents couldn't resist bringing it up when they dropped by earlier. Something you also weren't here for. Bonnie had to cover for you," she seethed bitingly. "All night drinking binges and one-night stands aren't exactly the types of behaviour the courts are going to look favourably upon if your parents go ahead and contest our guardianship," she berated.

"It was one time!" he repeated. "Surely the courts will grant me some leniency considering the circumstances," he snarled, "unlike some."

_Caroline's hands flung to her hips defensively. _

"One time is all your parents need! You know damn well they'll twist your behaviour to make it as incriminating as possible. The courts could side with your parents as it stands right now. We can't exacerbate things and weaken our case," she deplored as her voice quieted. "We could lose Grayson," her voice cracked as she started to become emotional.

_She rubbed her hands under her eyes in an attempt to fight back tears. _

_He looked down shamefully. He didn't want to see her cry. _

"You promised me, Klaus! You promised you weren't going to let them take Grayson. You told me we weren't going to screw this up," she reminded him. "You're breaking your promise already, and screwing up is exactly what you're doing!"

"Caroline, I..."

- "No, Klaus, I don't want to hear your excuses right now. Save your breath. I'm tired of them. I'm tired of crying. I'm tired of being sad and angry. I'm tired, period. Grayson's screams have been ringing in my ears all day. Now that you're home, it's my turn to escape. Your needs, be damned. I hope your hangover enjoys a crying baby," she declared hotly, turning on her heel.

_She grabbed her purse off counter and stormed out of the kitchen for the front door. _

_He didn't follow her. He felt frozen in place, hearing the jingle of her car keys as she grabbed her coat from the front hall closet. _

_Pushing himself to stop her, he headed for the hall, but it was too late. _

_The front door slammed shut as she ran out._

* * *

_She sat in her car and sobbed for a good five minutes as it slowly warmed up. _

_Her confrontation with Klaus played over and over again in her mind. _

_She considered going back inside to talk to him. _

_A part of her felt guilty for getting so angry with him, but then another part of her felt an undeniable sense of catharsis and vindication. _

_He deserved her words, no matter how much they might have stung. He needed to hear them. He needed to understand how she felt and how his actions affected those around him. _

_Bonnie was right, she couldn't just let this slide. She needed to stand up for herself. _

_Still, she couldn't help but feel like she had alienated him and that was never her intention. She didn't want to scare him away. _

_This wasn't an ideal situation for either of them. It had been dropped in their laps as the result of a tragic circumstance, and while she was confident she could manage Grayson on her own, she genuinely wanted to make this work with Klaus. _

_They had already agreed that Grayson needed both of them. _

_She really didn't want to do this without him. _

_Deciding that they both needed time apart to cool down, she put her car into drive and headed for her store and apartment. _

_She hoped when she returned, and after Kol and Bonnie left to catch their flight home, leveler heads would prevail so she and Klaus could resolve their issues. _

_This was just a bump in the road they would have to get over. They would have to learn to deal with one another since she was certain it wouldn't be the last time they would fight in the next eighteen years or so. _

_Both of them were stubborn though, and she worried that Klaus would be feeling even more hostile and impulsive when she returned. _

_She needed to be prepared to stand her ground. _

_If Klaus wasn't ready to make a genuine effort for Grayson, then she didn't want him here; then she and Grayson were better off alone. _

_When she got downtown, she made sure to wipe her eyes and clean up her face a little so that Camille and April wouldn't be suspicious. _

_She checked in on the store first. _

_April gave her personal condolences, but after that, the topic of Elena and Elijah didn't come up again, which she was grateful for. Camille had probably filled April in on all the details anyways. She didn't really mind; it saved her from doing it herself. _

_She had thought for sure Camille would have mentioned something about Klaus and the bartender, but she had seemed to have forgotten about it. Perhaps Camille's interest in him had waned after that. Camille could be fickle at times. She wasn't about to go out of her way to bring it up again though. Moreover, she didn't feel like revealing what Klaus had done after she left. Camille's second guesses, in addition to Bonnie's and her own, were the last thing she needed right now. _

_After their initial personal conversation, she jumped right into going over the work that needed to be completed. While Camille largely maintained the business side of things for her, April was very savvy with a sewing machine. Together, the two of them could handle the store and the simple to moderate alterations that had to be done. _

_However, there was a pile of custom work waiting in the back for her that she had dropped on Friday when she left early for Elena and Elijah's as their babysitter for the weekend. She intended to get back at it yesterday had circumstances not drastically changed. Now, she was a day behind. _

_No matter what, she'd have to at least attempt some of this work tomorrow. It couldn't be put off any longer. Klaus would have to take Grayson for the day while she got some work done. The sooner she got this work done, the sooner she would be paid for it. _

_She probably could have stayed at the store for a couple of hours and got started now, but she also needed to clean up her apartment and retrieve more of her things. _

_Taking some empty boxes from her workspace downstairs, they, along with her travel luggage, would work well in transporting what things she would need if she was going to reside at Elijah and Elena's for an indefinite period of time. _

_She decided to clean first, paying extra attention to the kitchen fridge and cupboards - tossing any opened food, and keeping the sealed items for Elijah and Elena's. Certainly Klaus had not picked up everything on his impromptu and suspicious shopping trip. _

_When the apartment was clean, she made a mental list of everything else she needed to take with her. She filled the first box and her luggage with clothing items: winter and spring outfits, exercise clothing, pyjamas, bras, socks, panties, stockings, etc. A second box was filled with all her beauty supplies she was sure she would need. _

_After that, she took advantage of her spotless space by capturing a few flattering photos. If she wanted to help cover costs, she would have to rent this place out to someone. _

_Once all that was finished, she hadn't realized how much time had actually passed since she left the house to come here. _

_As if perfectly timed with her realization, she could hear her phone sounding inside her purse by the front door. _

_It was a text from Bonnie wondering where she was and informing her that they had to leave in a while. There was also a missed call from Klaus. _

_They still had a few hours before their flight, but she had failed to factor in the time it would take to drive to the airport and get through security. Once she played that scenario out in her mind, she realized Kol and Bonnie would have to leave shortly after she returned. _

_She scolded herself for not thinking, and quickly made a few trips downstairs to load her car with the things she had packed. _

_Though her fight with Klaus made her reluctant to return, she wasn't going to miss saying goodbye to Bonnie. She wasn't sure when they would see each other again. _

_When she arrived back at the house, she took with her only what she could carry in one trip. She would get the other stuff after Bonnie and Kol had left. _

_She entered through the back door and dropped her box in the corner beside Bonnie and Kol's waiting luggage. _

"Hey," Bonnie greeted her carefully, standing up from the couch in the family room.

_Kol was with her. _

"We thought we were gonna miss you," Bonnie said curiously, clearly trying to avoid being confrontational.

"Sorry, I had to get out of the house for a bit," she explained as she removed her coat.

_Bonnie nodded sympathetically as she walked around the dining table and noticed the box. _

"I stopped at my store and then decided to clean up my apartment and pack a few more things. Time ran away on me," she informed them. "I hope you guys didn't wait for me. I don't want to make you late," she said guiltily.

_Kol shook his head as he stood up from the couch and turned off the television. _

"We won't be late, but we should probably head out now," he said to both her and Bonnie.

_She couldn't help but feel like Kol was hesitating for some reason. _

"Where's Grayson?" she wondered, as Kol and Bonnie started to put on their outerwear.

"We got him to take his afternoon nap," Bonnie said.

"The little guy put up a fight," Kol laughed.

"Klaus is just putting him down now," Bonnie revealed. "We wanted to say our goodbyes first."

_She frowned at the prospect of their departure. _

"I'm sorry. I should have returned sooner. I hate that you have to leave already," she sighed to Bonnie.

"Its fine, Caroline," Bonnie assured her. "I wish we didn't have to go either," she agreed.

_Her eyes began to go glassy as tears began to fill them. She had said goodbye to Bonnie many times before and she had never been this emotional over it. The circumstances were never quite like these though. They had both just lost their best friend and were now acutely sensitive to how fragile life could be. A part of her couldn't help but worry that this might be the last time she would see or talk to Bonnie. Another part of her was just terrified to be alone in this house with Klaus and Grayson without Bonnie and Kol as mediators. _

"Come here," Bonnie cried, extending her arms and bringing her into a hug. "Everything's gonna be fine, okay? We'll all get through this," she assured her as she rubbed her back comfortingly. "I'll call you as soon as I'm back in New York, and every day after that if you want me to," Bonnie said with a chuckle.

"Okay," she agreed, pulling away from the hug.

"You're gonna be fine with Grayson," Bonnie added, as though she knew what was worrying her most. "Keep an eye on him though. He still doesn't seem like himself."

_She nodded. _

_As she was about to say goodbye to Kol, Klaus appeared in the kitchen from the hall. _

_The first thing she noticed was the black and tan suitcase in his hand; his suitcase. _

_Her entire body went rigid and her stomach coiled into the tightest of knots. _

_Suddenly she felt numb. _

_Bonnie and Kol were looking at her worriedly, as Klaus stepped cautiously around the dining table with his luggage. _

"We'll wait out in the car," Kol offered quietly, leaning in to give her a small hug that her body could barely react to. "Take care of my nephew...and yourself. Don't ever hesitate to call me or Bonnie if you need anything," Kol told her.

"I will," she whispered, almost in a daze as a hot tear rushed down her cheek.

_Bonnie and Kol exchanged a final sympathetic look with her before departing through the back door with their luggage in hand. _

_She stood there, completely immobilized, her back to Klaus as she heard him set his bag down. _

"Caroline..." he said cautiously.

_She heard him get closer and she backed away, spinning around on her feet to face him. _

"Don't," she hissed, holding her hands up defensively. "So this is it? One fucking weekend and you decide you can't handle the pressure so you're just gonna hop on the next flight back to New York like it's that simple?!" she shouted resentfully through her tears. "You're just going to pack up and leave as though Grayson means nothing to you?!" she snapped.

"Caroline, let me explain," he urged, reaching out.

_She swatted his hand away from her. _

"No! I think you've made yourself perfectly clear. You don't need to explain anything. I understand this all too well," she cried. "You're fucking pathetic!" she sobbed.

"Caroline, calm down," he said, grabbing both of her upper arms in an attempt to steady her.

_She protested viciously, flailing her fists against his chest. _

"How could you do this?!" she deplored. "How could you do this to him?!"

"Listen to me," he said as she tried to pry his hands off her.

"No," she fought.

"I'm coming back," he said.

_She slowly stopped struggling as she eyed him questioningly. _

"I have to go back to New York for a couple of days, but I'll be back," he clarified.

_The muscles in her body started to relax. _

"You stormed out earlier before I could bring up the possibility," he continued. "I talked to Marcel after you left. Listen, I know its bad timing, but he really needs me to go back. There are loose ends I need to tie up; work I need to finish up. I managed to get on the same flight as Bonnie and Kol," he elaborated.

_She stood there almost in shock as she began to process what he was saying. _

"I know what this looks like, but I'm not running. You have to trust me," he urged her. "You wanted me to start taking responsibility well that's what I'm trying to do. I need to settle my responsibilities in New York before I can take on new ones here," he explained.

_There was a part of her who wanted to fight him on this; who wanted to second guess every single word he said to her, but she was tired of fighting. Regardless if he was being truthful or not about returning, she couldn't stop him from leaving permanently if that's what he wanted to anyways. _

"I was an asshole last night," he began, "I didn't mean to hurt you or Grayson, but I was only thinking about myself at the time."

_She nodded. _

"I feel like an even bigger asshole now that I'm essentially leaving Grayson with you for a few days without much warning," he sighed guiltily. "I can try and postpone if you want me to, but I have deadlines."

_She looked away pensively for a moment and considered his words and what her response would be. _

"This is different," she finally spoke up. "You need to go to New York for work. I understand," she breathed, feeling a weight slip off her shoulders unexpectedly. "You're doing this for Grayson."

_A look of relief crossed Klaus's features as he nodded and exhaled sharply. _

"Thanks," he said with a half-smile. "I definitely owe you," he concluded. "You can have all the free time you want when I get back. I'll even change diapers for a week," he offered.

_She tried her best to bite back a small laugh. She didn't want him to think the key to her forgiveness was petty bribes._

"I mean it," he said seriously. "I don't want to be an occasional father figure to Grayson, and I want you to be able to depend on me. I really do want to be here; for Grayson...and for you," he said anxiously.

_She closed her eyes briefly in an attempt to catch her residual tears. _

"I want you to be here," she admitted.

"I'm not going to screw this up for us," he said. "I intend to keep my promise to you."

_He was staring at her intensely. _

_Having been so caught up in their conversation, she only now felt his hands lingering on her bare forearms. _

_She looked down and his eyes followed. _

_Before he could notice the goose bumps that had rose on her skin, she slipped her arms out of his grasp. _

"You should probably go. You don't want to keep Bonnie and Kol waiting," she murmured, stepping back.

"You're probably right," he sighed.

_He took his jacket off of one of the dining chairs and put it on. _

"I talked to Stefan this afternoon. Our court date to formalize temporary guardianship is Friday. I'll be back before then," he assured her. "Stefan said he would call you with more details."

_She nodded, surprised by the news of their court date but oddly comforted by his continued reassurance. _

"Lock the door when I leave," Klaus said as he leaned down to pick up his bag. "Maybe find out what the password is for the security system so you can turn it on."

_The feminist in her was scowling, but she appreciated his concern nonetheless. It was probably a good idea to figure out how to work the security system anyways. Elena had turned it off so she wouldn't have to deal with it while they were away. _

"Okay," she agreed.

_He stepped by her for the back door. _

"Klaus?" she said, prompting him to stop in the doorway.

_He looked back questioningly. _

"Will you text me?" she asked anxiously, suddenly feeling a sense of vulnerability.

"I will," he told her.

* * *

**A/N: You know what they say about absences, hearts, and fondness... What did you guys think? I need to know! **

***Spoiler Alert***

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**Next Up: a trip to New York, dinner with the Salvatores, and long distance phone calls... **


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: Wow guys, I have to say you all are amazing for reading and reviewing the last chapter. Chapter 10 got 75 reviews all on its own! That's crazy. I guess it disproves my theory that long chapters discourage you. **

**With that said, I know you're probably looking at this chapter, thinking, 'um, you took this long to update and this is all you have?' I promise it isn't. Originally I expected this chapter to only be 5,000 words or less. I didn't think I'd have enough content. It turns out, Chapter 11 turned into a behemoth chapter of 17,000 words and counting, so, I decided to split it up to give you something to tie you over until I can post the second part. The second part should be coming in the next couple of days. I'm just finishing it up and then it will be sent to my amazing beta - livingdeadblondegirl - to review. **

**In the meantime, I hope this will suffice. Not everything that I previewed in the last chapter will be in this part, but I think you'll enjoy it, nonetheless. **

**Please let me know what you think!**

* * *

_He sighed as he walked reluctantly to the car with his luggage. Though he and Caroline had seemingly resolved their issues, he felt something pulling him back. _

_Placing his luggage in the trunk, he glanced at the back of the house briefly, noticing Caroline peering out the French doors. _

_As much as he knew he needed to settle matters in New York, there was a part of him desperately inclined to stay behind for reasons, he sensed, that went beyond a guilty conscience. _

_Kol and Bonnie were quiet in the car when he climbed in the backseat. They were eyeing him expectantly - especially Bonnie. _

_He could almost feel her eyes literally stabbing him into a million pieces. _

_It was her protective concern over Caroline, he knew. He could understand it. Bonnie was just looking out for her. _

"So is this going to be a roundtrip or a one-way trip?" Kol asked as they set out for the airport, posing the question that he knew both him and Bonnie were eager to know the answer to.

_Of course, they knew before Caroline did that he fully intended to return; he told them after he made plans with Marcel. _

_However, Bonnie was quick to point out then that Caroline could very well decide that his return was not something she would necessarily welcome. He got the impression that was outcome Bonnie was hoping for. _

_Apparently, the two of them had eavesdropped on his entire confrontation with Caroline, and while Kol had lent him some support, arguing that Caroline should have let him speak, Bonnie's uncomfortable silence signalled to him that she was firmly on team Caroline. He supposed he couldn't blame her or hold it against her. _

"It's going to be a roundtrip," he informed them as they drove out of Mystic Falls.

_He gauged a look of relief from Bonnie's side profile and he swore he could have heard a drawn out breath leave her lips. Perhaps he had made the wrong assumption about her. _

_Kol seemed shockingly amused. _

"Is she still pissed though?" Kol wondered.

"She was, when she first thought I was leaving for good," he explained, "but after I told her why I had to go back, she seemed to understand."

"So she's okay?" Bonnie piped up clearly concerned about the state he had left her best friend in.

_He nodded. _

"She's fine," he replied.

"You guys are fine?" Kol inquired further.

"Yeah...I think we are," he answered feeling content that he had been able to leave on good terms with her.

_Although, he wasn't exactly sure what the nature of those good terms were. At least he was conflicted about what he wanted them to entail. _

_He wondered if the goose bumps he noticed on Caroline's arms when he touched her meant that she was conflicted, too. _

_As quickly as the thought came, it went. He was reading too much into her reaction and her seemingly self-conscious effort to pull away from him after she had noticed it. _

_He was treading a fine line as it was. He wasn't even going to attempt to cross it now. _

_Thinking about it; thinking about her like that was bad enough. _

_He promised her he wouldn't screw this up. _

_They were going to make this work with Grayson. They could be co-parents, and hopefully friends. It would certainly make things easier than being at one another's throats all the time. _

_Now, more than ever, he wanted to prove to himself, to her, and everyone else that he could do this. _

_After he settled things in New York, they would just need to get into a routine; one that he could follow without overstepping any boundaries that would get him into trouble and call his commitment into question again._

* * *

_By the time their flight landed in New York, it was well after dinner. _

_Caroline would have already put Grayson to bed, unless of course he was still putting up a fight, which he had done all afternoon while she was out. _

_They grabbed food at the airport with Kol while he waited for his connecting flight back to London. _

_He probably just would have left the airport then and headed to his apartment, but Kol had made the horrific suggestion that he and Bonnie split on a cab._

_While it was a welcomed idea from an economic standpoint, he really didn't feel like being trapped in a cab with someone who didn't seem particularly fond of him. _

_He wasn't about to refuse though and make things even more awkward. _

"I should probably think about heading to the gate," Kol announced after they had finished their greasy fast food meal.

_It dawned on him then that he hadn't attempted a run or been to the gym in nearly a week. _

_Bonnie let out an audible sigh clearly displeased about his brother's departure back to London. _

_The three of them stood from the table. _

"Behave yourself, mate," Kol said with a subtle warning tone as they gave each other a brotherly hug.

_Finn aside, it was beginning to sink in more and more that Kol was the only brother he had left. _

"I will," he assured Kol.

"Look out for Grayson...and Caroline," Kol added.

_He nodded. _

_Kol seemed satisfied with his reassurances. _

"Have a safe flight. Give me a text when you're home. Perhaps I'll see you in the summer?" he suggested, quickly recalling Kol's planned return to New York.

"Hopefully Bonnie and I can make it out to Mystic Falls. Or you, Caroline, and Grayson could come to New York?" Kol proposed.

"We'll figure something out," he concluded. "I'll let you two say your goodbyes," he said to Kol and Bonnie.

_Bonnie looked at him appreciatively. _

"I'll meet you at the main terminal exit," he told Bonnie, eager for a cigarette.

"Okay," Bonnie agreed.

* * *

"Second hand smoke is a killer," he heard Bonnie say from behind him as he took a drag from his cigarette.

_Knowing exactly the point she was trying to drive home, he frowned guiltily. With his craving for nicotine suddenly diminished, he put the cigarette out in a nearby dispenser. _

_She looked satisfied with his response when he turned around to face her. _

_He was about to mention Kol as a neutral topic of conversation, but he faltered when he noticed her watery eyes. She had been crying. _

"Are you ready to go?" he asked.

_She nodded reluctantly and he extended his hand to hail them one of the circling taxis. _

_He put both of their bags in the trunk and got in the back beside her. _

_Being that he lived in Brooklyn and she in Manhattan, he would be dropped off first. _

_They were both quiet. _

_He felt awkward. _

_Though they both lived in New York and she was dating his brother, he didn't have much of a relationship with Bonnie. _

_The last time he had seen her was in the summer when Kol visited New York for a week. _

_In every case, Kol had been present and their conversation was mostly confined to casual small talk. He got the impression, even then, that she wasn't his biggest fan. _

_Now that they were alone, he wasn't sure what to say. _

_He considered asking about Kol's extended upcoming stay for the summer, but he wasn't sure if it would just make her more upset, and in turn, make her dislike him more. _

"When do you plan to go back to Mystic Falls?" Bonnie questioned; an inquisitive attempt to combat the piercing silence.

"Friday morning before the trial," he informed her.

_Bonnie glared at him uncertainly. _

"The hearing isn't until the afternoon," he reassured her. "I'm on a flight back to Virginia at six in the morning," he grumbled in minor protest.

_That return flight had been the only one available to him for the airport closest to Mystic Falls. He was most definitely not a morning person, but he had no choice. _

_The fact that he had even booked a return flight to Virginia seemed to appease Bonnie's concerns. _

"Is your return for real?_"_ Bonnie asked him questioningly.

_He arched a confused eyebrow in her direction. _

"I booked the flight," he emphasized.

"No, I mean, is your return real as in that when you come back you're going to really be there for Grayson and Caroline?" Bonnie probed.

"It's real," he confirmed.

_Bonnie eyed him suspiciously. _

"I want to make this work," he reiterated, hoping to convince Bonnie of his intentions.

"Well in order for it to work, you need to take the initiative to be involved with Grayson's care. He's not going to wait for you. He's growing every day. He needs someone to look up to," Bonnie explained.

_Admittedly, the prospect of being the person Grayson looked up to in life was intimidating, but he didn't want that to be anyone else but him. _

"I know," he said. "I want to be involved. I want to be that person for Grayson," he told her.

_Bonnie nodded cautiously. _

"And you need to be respectful of Caroline. You're both Grayson's primary caregivers, not just her. You need to help each other...look out for one another," Bonnie urged. "Caroline is nice to a fault; trusting too easily, always willing to see the good in people and give them second chances. Don't take advantage of that," she warned, "too many men already have: her father, Tyler," Bonnie listed, "you," she said, glaring accusingly at him. "She doesn't need to be let down by you a second time."

_He suddenly got the impression that Bonnie's anger towards him with respect to his treatment of Caroline went beyond this past weekend._

_Mention of Caroline's father also intrigued him. _

"Don't be the rule, be the exception for her. Prove to her that you deserve her trust; that she can depend on you to be there for her. That's how you'll make things work with her," Bonnie told him.

_She glared at him intensely, as though to emphasize her words contained more than just their straightforward meaning. _

_He agreed passively, unsure of how to respond to Bonnie's stern advice. _

_They continued the rest of the cab ride in relative silence until they pulled up in front of his five-storey Williamsburg apartment building_

"You're really only a subway ride away. I'm on the Lower East Side," Bonnie observed casually, as he began to dig through his wallet for his portion of the fare. "Maybe you should bring Caroline and Grayson here in the summer when Kol comes back?" Bonnie suggested receptively. "I'm sure Caroline would love to visit the city."

_He nodded. _

"Kol just needs to give me some dates," he said, handing Bonnie his fare money.

_He opened the door. _

"Listen, Klaus, I know it doesn't seem like it, but I really do want this to work for the three of you. I just don't want to see Grayson or Caroline get hurt," Bonnie admitted.

"I know," he said understandingly, putting one foot out onto the wet pavement.

"Take care of them for me," Bonnie instructed him as he climbed out of the cab.

"I will," he assured her.

_He grabbed his luggage from the trunk and headed for the door up to his apartment. _

"Klaus?" Bonnie called from the open car window.

_He glanced over his shoulder curiously. _

"Caroline's favourite food is Mexican or Italian," Bonnie hinted with a reassuring smile, waving at him as the cab proceeded to move.

_His eyebrows furrowed in confusion as the cab pulled away._

* * *

_He checked his mailbox before he opted to take the stairs to his third floor apartment. _

_Unlocking the door and stepping inside, he dropped his suitcase in the small hall. _

_The bathroom light was still on from when he had hastily packed his bag to leave for the airport just a few days ago; when he still thought there was a chance his brother would survive. _

_He shut the light off before stepping back out into the hall and removing his shoes. _

_Being back, he wondered how he managed to live in such a cramped space. Elijah and Elena's was a sprawling estate compared to what he lived in here. The square footage of his apartment was probably less than Elijah and Elena's main floor. _

_Though for New York, his one-bedroom apartment was a rare find: boasting a suitable location, reasonable rent, and a modernized appearance. _

_He had to sacrifice living in Manhattan for it, but Brooklyn wasn't bad. It enabled him a decent living space and afforded him the opportunity to lease a postage stamp in Chelsea, for the studio and gallery that he shared with Marcel. _

_Throwing his mail and keys down at the dining room table, which was already littered with half-complete sketches and old mail, he removed his coat and then went for the fridge. _

_He was sure there was probably some rotting food in there that would need to be discarded, but he was also certain he had a few beers tucked away, and after the day he had and the hangover he was still trying to recover from, he was in desperate need of a drink to unwind. _

_With the beer secured, he began the process of cleaning out the fridge. If he didn't do it now, he'd probably forget until he had to return to Mystic Falls. _

_An odorous fridge and a messy apartment in general were not exactly conducive to earning him money if he hoped to sublet it while he was away. _

_When he was done with the kitchen, he brought his luggage through the living room to his bedroom. _

_He didn't bother to unpack what was there; there was no point. He was only going to have to pack it all up again when he filled his larger suitcases with more of his things. _

_Packing had crossed his mind, until he noticed the small canvas propped up on the easel by one of the tall rectangular windows that overlooked the dreary car-lined street below. _

_He usually preferred to keep his painting confined to his studio, but when he was working on something smaller he sometimes opted to take it home, especially for the natural light his bedroom provided. _

_To the untrained eye, the painting looked finished, but he was a perfectionist and had left the painting for days, scrutinizing its imperfections. _

_He thought about prepping his paints and brushes to make the changes he had decided upon before he left, but the inspiration wasn't there. His mood for it was lost. It was a completely abstract piece, commissioned by the customer to incorporate as many vibrant colours as possible. The dark March night coupled with his less than vibrant weekend, left him unenthused about it. It would be a challenge to complete before he had to return to Mystic Falls, but he also needed the income. _

_He considered hopping on the train and heading over to the studio to work on the other larger commissioned piece he had to finish before he left again, but it was already starting to get late, and he knew Marcel would already be gone. _

_Packing it was, he supposed. He would spend tonight packing and then he would head over to the studio early to work and cross paths with Marcel. _

_He pulled out a larger suitcase from underneath his bed and started on his closet first. There weren't many clothes to pack, luckily, but there were personal effects that he didn't want left behind in the event that someone would be occupying his apartment while he was gone. _

_Looking around, he wondered if he should even bother re-signing the lease to this place in a few months. Once he had Grayson this apartment would be much too small. He would need at least two bedrooms for when Grayson came to live with him. Just the thought of Grayson being here with him filled him with a competing feeling of excitement and anxiety. _

_With the remainder of his clothes easily packed, he got to work on the top shelf that contained old sketchpads, portfolios, and small boxes filled with more items: books, CDs, personal documents, and mementos. _

_Reaching for the highest box first had proven to be a mistake when he lost his grip and it had came tumbling down onto the floor beside him. _

"Fuck," he muttered, stopping short to censor himself, but quickly remembering that Grayson was hundreds of miles away.

_Luckily, he had stacked wisely and the top box was only filled with what appeared to be paper, photographs, and a few small objects. _

_He crouched down to examine the contents more closely. _

_This was the box was mostly filled with Henrik's things._

_He picked through the items, pausing first to examine the necklaces on top. Some were handmade by Henrik and others had beenpurchased. All were gothic inspired or modelled after jewellery from ancient civilizations; both of which Henrik had an interest in. He never saw Henrik without one until he gave them to him to keep and wear, knowing that their father would see to it that he wouldn't be buried with them. Their father loathed Henrik's interest in jewellery; he frequently called Henrik a 'girl' for wearing the necklaces. He wore the necklace Henrik had made especially for him just to spite his father in support of Henrik when they were younger. He hadn't worn any of the necklaces since Henrik's death, even though Henrik had encouraged him to; he didn't want to lose or tarnish them. Elijah had a necklace from Henrik too, somewhere. He assumed it would be a matter of time before he found it once he returned to Mystic Falls. _

_Setting the necklaces aside, he glanced down at the photographs underneath. _

_They were photos of him and his siblings when they were younger. Their parents were absent from every single one. _

_He felt his throat swell when he came across a photo of him, Elijah, and Henrik. It was Henrik's fifth birthday. He and Elijah were teenagers. Henrik had spread icing from his birthday cake on their faces. _

_For a brief moment, he found himself smiling as he replayed the memory in his mind, until it dawned on him that he was the only one from this photograph remaining. Both Elijah and Henrik were now gone. _

_He sighed, moving on to sort through the other items. _

_There were a few sealed collectors comics and personal drawings of Henrik's at the bottom of the pile. _

_He had always admired Henrik's knack for drawing at such a young age. It had taken him a lot longer to perfect his ability. _

_Of course, he couldn't keep all of Henrik's work, but when he passed, he had made a point of taking his favourites - which were often Henrik's favourites - and the ones that had been eerily left unfinished. His other siblings took some too from what he could recall, but the rest were thrown out after his mother had went on a particularly nasty drinking binge and decided to rid the house of what remained of Henrik's things. _

_One of the drawings he noticed was the birds of a feather image Henrik had started upon shortly before his death. Henrik explained that it was a metaphor for their sibling relationships; for family. Thus, he always had had a particular affinity for it. Following Henrik's passing, he intended to use the image for a tattoo, but had never gotten around to it. _

_He picked up the paper and considered it awhile longer. In lieu of Elijah and Elena's deaths and his commitment to Grayson, completing the image now and immortalizing it with ink seemed more than appropriate. _

_In the midst of packing, he stopped at the beckoning of his inspiration. _

_Grabbing a few of his sketching pencils from their small box on the sill and a few blank sheets of paper for planning, he took the original drawing out to the already cluttered dining table and got to work. _

_He drew for about an hour until he was satisfied with the finished product. _

_Taking a few more minutes to appraise it, his attention was snapped away by the buzzing of his cell phone. _

_With that noise, he realized how quiet his apartment had truly been. He found it uncomforting. It had been the type of silence he had always revelled in. His concentration appreciated it. A weekend spent in Mystic Falls, however, had suddenly rendered it unsettling. _

_When he expected to hear Bonnie or Kol playfully bickering, he didn't. When he expected to hear Caroline's sweet voice with Grayson, he didn't. When he expected to hear Grayson's wails, he didn't. _

_There was a lonely quality about his apartment now that wasn't there before he left. _

_While he wouldn't go so far as to say that he missed the sound of Grayson crying in and of itself he missed the reassurance it brought him; the reassurance that he wasn't alone. _

_He stood up from the table and washed his hands off before going to retrieve his phone from his coat pocket. _

_The complaint of his phone reminded him that he had yet to text Caroline like he told her he would, and he wondered if maybe a message from her had triggered the sound. _

_Instead, it was a text from Marcel, asking him if he was back in the city yet. _

_He replied quickly, telling Marcel that he would see him at the gallery in the morning. _

_The clock on the wall said it was already half past ten, but he decided to text Caroline anyways. If she was already asleep, she would get his message in the morning. _

_He selected her name, but hesitated about what to say. _

_Although they had resolved things before he left to an extent, they weren't exactly the best of friends either, so he wasn't sure how to address her. _

_He knew he was over-thinking this. All he needed to do was send her a simple message. _

_So that's what he did; he texted a brief message confirming that he had made it to New York safely a few hours ago. _

_With the message sent, he headed for his bedroom. _

_He might have had the chance to shower this afternoon after his argument with Caroline, but with Grayson's cries and the short time before he had to leave for the flight, he certainly didn't get a chance to nap. He attempted to on the flight, but he was never keen on falling asleep with a stranger seated right beside him. So, needless to say, he was exhausted. _

_Sleeping in his bed would be a welcomed change to the couch in Elena and Elijah's family room, or sleeping next to Vicki as he had the night before. _

_He stripped himself of his long-sleeved shirt and jeans and opted for a pair of sweatpants. _

_After he returned from the bathroom, having washed his face and brushed his teeth, his attention was brought to his phone vibrating on the nightstand. _

_He picked it up as he sat down on the mattress. _

_His unexplained nerves relaxed when he found it was only a reply from Marcel, agreeing to see him in the morning. _

_As he went to return his phone to the table surface, it began to vibrate in his hand with a message from Caroline. _

_He sucked in a breath and read the message._

* * *

_After the three of them left, she felt their absence immediately. _

_She hadn't been alone in the house with Grayson since before Elena and Elijah died. _

_It felt even more sombre and empty. _

_Grayson's successful afternoon nap had rendered it even quieter. _

_While Grayson napped, she made space in the spare bedroom for her things. _

_When that was done, she filled her own laundry basket, snuck into Grayson's room for his, and stripped the sofa bed in Elijah's office to begin the laundry that had to be done. _

_She was just about to retreat to the basement to start the first load when Grayson woke up in a crying fit. _

_His nap had barely lasted more than a half-hour. _

_Without any choice, obviously, she dropped the laundry at the top of the stairs and tended to Grayson. _

_He had an attitude for the rest of the afternoon and evening, even when she attempted to feed him. The feedings were twice as long as they had typically been over the weekend since she had to coax him to eat any of the formula and baby food she had prepared. _

_After seeing the grocery receipt at the bottom of one of the bags and noticing the cost of the formula, she had to hold back the expletives she wanted to use when she had to pour the unconsumed remainder down the sink. It was something she wouldn't tell Klaus about, knowing that he paid for the pricey necessity in the first place._

_When she fed Grayson before bed she offered Grayson some of Elena's breast milk to see if that made a difference in his appetite. Perhaps the formula was the problem. It was not, however. Grayson was still unenthused about eating. _

_His lackluster appetite worried her, but she decided to wait until tomorrow to see if there were any changes before she let herself fall into a complete panic. _

_The extended feedings and his general fussy behaviour meant that she didn't get him to bed until nearly nine at night and that her phone call with Bonnie, once she arrived back in New York, only consisted of a short hello and goodbye and promises to talk later. _

_She almost didn't want to disturb him when she put him to bed, but her arm had been numb from his weight since he had fallen asleep against her chest after an hour of protest. _

_Luckily, he remained asleep when she put him down in his crib, and she made a stealthy escape from his room so as not to wake him. _

_At that point, she was starving, having been unable to afford herself the time to make something to eat when Grayson was awake. So, she ended up eating cereal for dinner, too tired and annoyed to be bothered to make anything else. _

_Once she was finished eating and the laundry was in the washer, she took advantage of the small home gym Elena and Elijah had in their basement. She only used the treadmill - with Grayson's monitor in the cup holder and her water on the floor - but it was better than nothing. She obviously hadn't had time to make it to the gym this past weekend and she was in desperate need of something to work off her stress. In any case, the small TV they had mounted to the wall made it even easier to tune out her thoughts and relax. _

_Still, it was difficult not to think about today and the days that had preceded it. _

_Despite the fact that she and Klaus had settled their differences before he left, she was still annoyed with him, especially in lieu of his absence tonight. Having him here would have made things a lot easier._

_But she knew she couldn't think like that. She couldn't resent him, as Bonnie had warned her. He was going to New York for legitimate reasons, all of which, when settled, would enable him to return to Mystic Falls to help take care of Grayson. She had to understand that. She had to give him the benefit of the doubt and trust what he told her before he left was true: that he intended to keep his promise and that he wanted to be the dependable father figure Grayson deserved. _

_There was still an unsure part of her, however, given their distant and recent history, that urged her not to hold her breath, that told her come Friday, she would be the only one present with Stefan at the hearing to solidify guardianship of Grayson. _

_She didn't want to think like that, but it was hard not to consider the worst case scenario. She had to be prepared in the event that Klaus opted not to return like he said he would. _

_She sighed shakily as she recalled the sick feeling that hit her when she saw Klaus in the hall with his bag. She thought he was leaving; she thought he was running away for good, and she had scolded herself for allowing herself think, for a second time, that maybe someone could prove to be the exception for him. _

_But then, at the last minute, when all hope seemed lost, he proved her immediate assumption wrong and told her he would be back. _

_She wanted him to prove her wrong again. She wanted him to be there on Friday. Grayson needed both of them. _

_His assurances seemed sincere, but her insecurities kept her guarded. She supposed she was cautiously optimistic. _

_This was his chance. If he didn't take it, then there was no more that needed to be said in regards to his commitment. His words could only go so far; there needed to be action to back them up. _

_She couldn't let worry over what Klaus may or may not do consume her. She had to focus on what she had control over, her own actions. Regardless of what happened Friday, she would still be there for Grayson come Saturday. _

_Feeling grounded by that fact, she took an exercise break to switch the wet laundry over to the dryer. By the time the clothes were dry, she had worked up a significant sheen of sweat and decided to end her exercise there for the night. She folded the laundry and went to bring it upstairs. _

_As she started for the stairs to the main floor, she made note of the open door to the storage room Klaus and Kol had been rummaging through the other night. Setting the laundry basket down, she turned on the light and entered the room of shelves and boxes. She'd helped Elena organize this room a few months after her parents and Jeremy died. It was distressing and disturbing to think that she would have to go through all of it again now that Elena and Elijah were gone. _

_She peered into one of the open boxes Kol and Klaus had left on the floor. It looked like a bunch of electronic related items that she hadn't the first clue about. _

_Knowing if she rifled through the box she'd be down here until dawn tackling a job that required more than a few hours, she nudged the box aside with her foot before shutting off the light and returning to the laundry basket. _

_She didn't feel right about going through Elena and Elijah's things without Klaus there anyways. _

_After she put what clothes she could away - Grayson's would have to wait until morning - she showered and got ready for bed, in hopes that Grayson would decide to sleep through the night. Surely he was tired, he had slept terrible the night before, Mikael and Esther had the audacity to interrupt his morning nap, and his afternoon nap was barely worthy of mentioning. Perhaps she could get some decent sleep tonight. _

_From the bathroom, she could hear her ringtone sound from the bedroom. _

_Worried that the noise of her ringtone might wake Grayson, she spit out her toothpaste hurriedly and rushed into the bedroom to silence the sound. _

_Her breathing hitched slightly when she recognized the sender of the message she'd received. _

'_Klaus.' _

_She really hadn't expected him to text her so soon, if at all. She kind of regretted asking him to in the first place. In hindsight, it had probably made her look desperate and pathetic. She could have easily discerned from Bonnie that he had made it to New York without any issue, but she had asked him to text her anyways. Her pride aside, she wanted him to keep in touch if only for her peace of mind. _

_But was it only for her peace of mind? The reappearance of goose bumps on her arms and the anticipatory clench of her stomach said otherwise. _

_She read the message, brushing her concern aside. _

'_I made it to New York with Kol and Bonnie a few hours ago.' _

_Though she knew that already, thanks to Bonnie, she felt an added sense of relief. _

_Sitting down on the bed, she texted him back._

* * *

'_That's good. When are you coming back?'_

_He paused and considered the question more than he needed to. _

_Of course, it was a question motivated by general curiosity. There was no eagerness there. _

'_Friday morning. My flight leaves at 6 am,' he replied, leaning back against his headboard. _

_Her response came quickly. _

'_Okay,' it read simply. _

_He knew this was the logical end to their text conversation, but for some reason, he felt inclined to keep it going. _

'_How is Grayson?' he wondered, genuinely concerned about how he was given his distressed state earlier. _

_He felt guilty for not being there to help her. That guilt he felt was only exacerbated by how big of a jackass he had been the night before. _

'_He hasn't been eating much. I didn't get him to bed until 9.' _

_It seemed as though Grayson was getting worse, not better. His body swelled with anxiety. Though he knew he had to be in New York to handle things, he suddenly felt helpless. What could he do for Caroline or for Grayson over the phone? Absolutely nothing. _

'_Maybe you should call Meredith?' he suggested, unsure of what else to say. _

_He waited impatiently for her to respond. _

'_I am going to take him to the hospital tomorrow if he doesn't get any better,' she assured him. _

'_Okay,' he answered. _

_Suddenly feeling self-conscious - whether due to his lingering guilt or concern - he quickly texted a follow up message. _

'_Sorry if I woke you up. I should've assumed you were sleeping after your day with Grayson,' he apologized. _

_There was a delay in response and he waited nervously. _

'_I'm just getting ready for bed now,' the reply finally said. _

_He felt himself tense inappropriately at Caroline's revelation. _

_Shielding his eyes with his hand in embarrassment, he tried to wipe out the thoughts that had entered his mind of Caroline; they were curious thoughts about what she looked like when she dressed, what she was wearing, whether she was texting him in bed as he was her. _

'_Same,' he replied casually, hoping his own delay in response would not rouse her suspicion. _

'_Did all the bars close early because they knew you were coming back?' her next message said, clearly meant to be teasing. _

_An amused smile crossed his face. _

'_Funny, but I'm tired and it will be an early morning at the studio tomorrow. There's lots of work to be done.' he explained to her. _

'_There's lots of work to be done here, too,' she quickly reminded him. _

_Before he could type out a response, a follow up message quickly came. _

'_I need you to fuck me when you get back.' _

_His eyes practically fell from his face in shock as he reread the last message to confirm what she had said. _

_She had definitely said, 'fuck,' he concluded. _

_He also concluded that it had to have been a typo. _

_His face went red with second-hand embarrassment as he snickered at her mistake. _

_He waited for her to send a speedy recovery message, but it didn't come. _

'_Are you sure?' he asked playfully, wondering if she had realized her error. _

'_I can't do it by myself!' the annoyed message came almost automatically. _

_He erupted with laughter. _

'_If you insist, sweetheart,' he replied. 'Although I think you meant help, not fuck, but either way,' he texted back boldly. _

_He probably should have refrained from sending the last part. He hoped she received it as a joke, and not a real offer, even though he knew deep his intent was questionable. He was pushing the boundaries. _

_In no time at all, he had a response. _

'_OMG! OF COURSE I MEANT HELP! STUPID AUTO-CORRECT! I'M GOING TO BED, GOODNIGHT!' she said. _

_He literally laughed out loud at her reply. _

'_lol, whatever you say ; )' he teased, following that up with a simple, 'goodnight.' _

_With a smile still playing on his lips, he climbed under the comforter and shut off the bedside lamp. _

_He went through his messages a final time, pausing on the slip up she had sent to him. _

'_I need you to fuck me when you get back.' _

_It wasn't a real request, he knew, but he couldn't help the small jolt of electricity that shot through his body as he read it a third time. _

_Despite logical protest, his mind wandered over the sinful replies he might have sent to her had the message been truthful. _

_With his imagination consumed by a lustful fire and the appendage in his pants beginning to stir, he tossed his phone back onto the nightstand._

* * *

_She felt a rush of sickness hit her when she saw his response. _

'_If you insist, sweetheart,' he replied. 'Although I think you meant help, not fuck, but either way.' _

_In a sudden burst of panic, she checked her previous messages. _

'_I need you to fuck me when you get back.' _

_She groaned in humiliated agony. She wanted to curl up under the duvet and die. _

_Her fingers must have slipped when she was typing the message and then auto-correct did the rest, putting the nail in the coffin of her embarrassment. _

_She couldn't believe she had sent that to him without realizing. She had never 'sexted' someone by accident before let alone on purpose. _

_Quickly she texted him an exasperated reply, intent on clarifying in case he got the wrong idea. _

_She literally peeked through a parted hand at his reply. _

'_lol, whatever you say,' he said, followed by, 'goodnight.' _

_Though it was a tame jab, she still cringed. _

_She was certain he wouldn't let her live this typo down. _

_And despite her embarrassment, she found herself going back through their exchange. _

'_If you insist, sweetheart,' she reread. 'Although I think you meant help, not fuck, but either way.' _

_Her eyes clenched shut at his flirty, but teasing, quips. _

_Surely that was all they were. _

'_lol, whatever you say,' she read again. _

_She scowled at his suggestive remark and was almost tempted to send him another message to reaffirm that she had truly meant to say, 'help.' _

_However, she decided against it, knowing it would only make her intentions look suspect. _

_Her message was supposed to say, 'help,' not 'fuck,' she lamented to herself. _

_She did not want him to fuck her contrary to what the subtle ache between her thighs might have suggested. _

_The message was a mistake and there was no truth to it whatsoever. _

_Her attraction to Klaus Mikaelson and their subsequent one-weekend stand had been a complete one off - a mistake, as Klaus had so eloquently put it - it wouldn't happen again. _

_Frustrated, she tossed her phone on the nightstand beside her and rolled over to the opposite side of the mattress._

* * *

**A/N: So what did you think? **

**As promised, the next chapter will include another long distance conversation and dinner with the Salvatores. Marcel will also be making an appearance!**

**Oh yeah, if any of you are from New York City, sorry if I butchered any of the details. My knowledge is limited to a night of research on various neighbourhoods, a New York City transit map, and what I've seen on television, aha. **


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: Hey there! Thanks for the response to the last chapter, even if the Klaroline interaction was minimal. I'm glad that, for the most part, you enjoyed the conversation between Klaus and Bonnie and enjoyed Caroline's little textual mishap. **

**The Klaroline interaction in this chapter is also minimal, but I think it's quality not quantity that's important as far as this chapter is concerned. Marcel also makes his appearance, and I really really hope you like him. I've taken a lot of creative liberties with his character since I don't have much to base him off of, but let me know what you think! **

**As always, thank you to my lovely beta, livingdeadblondegirl, who took the time to edit this and offer some wonderful suggestions - all while working on two of her own Klaroline fan-fictions (The Memory Remains and The Only Hope for Me is You). **

**This chapter is kind of a beast in length, so I hope by the end of it you can find it in your heart to leave a review :D**

* * *

_He woke the next morning disoriented by his surroundings, forgetting where he was. It took him a few seconds to remind himself that he was back in his apartment. _

_For a split second, it almost felt like he had never left, that everything about the past weekend had been one big terrible nightmare. _

_The open luggage and Henrik's things spread out on the wood floor said otherwise. _

_Though being back here made it seem like Elijah and Elena's absence could be attributed simply to the distance between New York and Mystic Falls. He knew better than that. The dull pain in his chest knew better than that. _

_The sight of his phone reminded him of his text conversation with Caroline the night before, and he still found himself chuckling at the exchange. _

_His thoughts fell upon Grayson, but he decided to hold off texting. It was early, and given the day they had yesterday, both Grayson and Caroline could still be asleep. _

_As much as he didn't miss the incessant cries of his nephew, things seemed dull in his apartment without his laughter. _

_He really needed to get out of this apartment. _

_Before he made his way to the studio, he took advantage of the sunny sky and clear sidewalks to push himself back into the habit of his morning run. He hoped that maybe he could take a trip to the gym at some point before he left in hopes of getting some of the money back on a gym membership he wouldn't use for six of the twelve months it was valid for. _

_He ran for nearly an hour in his neighbourhood. He hadn't been gone long, and everything was how he left them, but it felt different. _

_When he returned, he grabbed a shower, dressing in worn clothes appropriate for painting afterwards. _

_Ready to leave his apartment and head for the studio, the sight of Henrik's things still on the floor in his room caught his attention. Kneeling down, he picked up one of the beaded necklaces. He examined it for a moment, running his fingers along the strand. Decidedly, he put it around his neck and headed for the door. _

_The train was crowded at this hour, but he shouldn't have been surprised. When he arrived at his stop, he pushed his way out onto the platform and made his way up to the city street. _

_A few blocks later, and a stop at the cafe around the corner, he was at the small gallery and studio. _

_They weren't open to the public on Wednesdays, thankfully. Marcel was in the back room, working on his latest creation no doubt, while he sang along to a blaring song from The Clash. _

_While he stuck to painting and drawing, Marcel was more versatile, dabbling in a little bit of everything from sculpting to graffiti and everything in between. _

_Today it seemed he was working with newspaper on canvas. _

"How many recycling bins did you have to go through?" he joked, prompting Marcel to turn around.

_A grin appeared on his face. _

"Niklaus Mikaelson," Marcel exclaimed, dropping the newspaper in his hands before turning down the stereo.

_He set the coffees he had picked up for them on the table as Marcel extended his arms to give him a brotherly hug. _

"The stranger returns," Marcel observed, feigning surprise. "I was starting to get worried. I thought the big city lost you to small town Virginia," he chuckled.

_He shook his head as he pulled back from the embrace. _

"There was a lot of stuff to sort out," he commented.

_Marcel nodded understandingly. _

"I'm sorry about your brother, man. Losing loved ones ain't easy. I've been through it," Marcel sighed. "I feel for you."

"No, it isn't easy," he agreed.

"How are you holding up?" Marcel asked concerned.

_He shrugged, reluctant to spill his guts to anyone, including Marcel. _

_Marcel seemed to take the hint his silence was trying to send. _

"Sorry I couldn't make it out to the funeral, but child support is a motherfucker, plus it was my weekend to have Jade and Kieron," Marcel explained. "I only get them two weekends out of the month."

"You don't have to apologize. I didn't expect you to be there," he said, setting his messenger bag down on the large table that contained most of their supplies.

_He stared at Marcel's latest work pensively, reflecting on what Marcel had said for a moment about child support and occasional visits, wondering if that's how things would be for him and Grayson six months from now. _

"You like it?" Marcel asked nodding towards his work, snapping him out of his thoughts.

"What is it?" he laughed, noting the three-dimensional aspect.

"It's going to be a social critique on the information age," Marcel mused. "That's what the client wanted, so that's what they shall receive," he chuckled.

_He looked over at the painting he had come to finish. _

"That psychiatrist has been calling here every day wanting to know when you're going to get that shit finished," Marcel groaned. "So get it done so we can make the lease on this place for the next couple months," he urged jokingly.

_The psychiatrist wanted it for her office. It was an abstract painting of the brain. It had actually become one of his favourite pieces to work on, even though it was commissioned. _

_It went along nicely with his bi-polar inspired paintings of popular New York landscapes, buildings, and attractions that he was working on in his spare time. _

_He checked his phone for any messages before removing his jacket and rolling up his sleeves in preparation for the work ahead of him. _

_Marcel patted him on the back. _

"That's the spirit," Marcel exclaimed. "Get it done by Friday and we can hit up that new bar that's opening a few blocks from your place," he encouraged. "A friend of a friend owns it. He hooked me up with a reserved table."

_He hesitated, knowing he would have to fill Marcel in on all the things he had to deal with while he was away - things he still had to deal with._

_Judging by the unsure expression on Marcel's face, Marcel knew something was up. _

"I don't like that look, Mikaelson," Marcel said warily.

"I won't be able to make it Friday," he said regretfully.

_Marcel gave him a deflated glare. _

"Come on man, you're over-thinking this painting. You can get it done by then. We'll have our own table, plus drinks on the house, and do you know how many ladies are going to be at this bar on Friday? I don't think you realize," Marcel gasped incredulously.

_He shook his head determinedly. _

"I have to go back to Mystic Falls Friday morning," he sighed.

_Marcel's eyebrows and forehead contorted. _

"Why? I thought you settled what you had to?" Marcel wondered.

"That was just the beginning," he started. "Elijah and Elena made me co-executor of their will..."

_Marcel shrugged. _

"Most of that you can handle from New York," Marcel pointed out.

"...and co-guardian of my nephew, Grayson," he finished.

_He watched as Marcel's eyes widened accordingly. _

"Shit," Marcel said in disbelief. "That's...intense," he said unsurely as he tried to gauge his own response. "Did you know about this...before...?"

"I had no idea. The will was made fairly recent. I guess they thought they would fill in the blanks then and ask later...and then they never got around to it," he concluded solemnly.

_Marcel wiped a hand over his face, looking just as surprised as he had himself when he first heard the news. The implications for him were likely forefront. _

"So what about New York?" Marcel asked, understandably concerned. "You're just gonna pack up and move back to Mystic Falls? What about the studio? Your art?" he rambled, posing the same questions he had posed to himself a few days ago.

"It's just until I can get permanent custody of Grayson; there's a six month trial period before the courts will grant it," he explained. "It's just easier if I'm there for now. It will give us time to sort out the will and adjust to having Grayson. I'll keep up with my half of the lease while I'm gone, I just won't be here working."

_This clarification - especially the last part - seemed the quell Marcel's immediate concerns, but he could tell there were a million other ones racing through his mind. _

"Wait...you said co-executor and co-guardian?" Marcel asked curiously. "Is one of your other siblings listed, too?"

_He knew the question was coming; he had purposely avoided filling in the name of his co-executor and co-guardian when he first revealed the news to him. _

"Elena's friend, Caroline Forbes," he answered, deciding not to beat around the bush.

"She listed one of her friends?" Marcel queried in disbelief.

_He shrugged. _

"Elena isn't close with any of her relatives. She and Caroline grew up together. They were best friends. Caroline was her maid of honour," he vouched for her.

_Marcel's eyebrows rose immediately. _

"The same maid of honour you slept with the weekend of your brother's wedding and then bailed on?" Marcel interrogated, clearly having put two and two together. "The same one I nagged you to call for weeks afterwards and you never did?"

_Fuck, he should have been more careful when he described who Caroline was. _

"Yeah, that would be her," he answered.

_A tinge of guilt pinched his skin, even though Marcel's tone was more along the lines of pathetic amusement than it was accusatory._

_He winced slightly as he waited for Marcel's reaction. _

_When Marcel laughed, he glared at him quizzically. _

"This weekend must have been awkward for you," Marcel said, continuing to chuckle a little.

_He shrugged. Sure, he screwed up and they had argued, but other than that, there hadn't been many blatantly awkward moments save for the ones his mind created. _

"Well you do have six more months, not to mention the next eighteen years and beyond," Marcel pointed out, reminding him once more of the commitment he was making. "I guess I'm just curious to know how you're going to share custody of Grayson with her?" he inquired.

"That's what the next six months are for," he reasoned. "We're both going to move into Elijah and Elena's house temporarily to raise Grayson and sort out the details of the will."

_Marcel arched his eyebrows. _

"You're going to be living with her?" Marcel asked, stunned.

"We're going to be living with Grayson," he stressed. "It will make it easier on him and allow us to both be there, and it's cost effective," he reasoned. "I can't afford rent on two apartments plus the lease on this place, especially if I can't sublet my apartment here."

_His argument seemed to appease Marcel, but he could still tell that he was concerned. _

"It's not a big deal, mate. The past is in the past. It's only six months, and after the six months is up we'll come up with some shared custody arrangement, and I'll return to New York," he explained. "You and Shay make it work," he pointed out.

"Yeah, but she lives in Jersey, not Mystic Falls, Virginia," Marcel replied. "And you barely know this chick."

_He glared at Marcel defensively. _

"I may not know Caroline well, but I know that she loves Grayson and knows way more about taking care of him than I do right now. I trust Elena and Elijah's judgement on that," he retorted. "Besides, didn't you say one of the reasons you and Shay divorced was because you didn't know each other anymore?" he added.

_Marcel grumbled at his last remark. _

"As for the distance, we'll figure something out," he said nonchalantly, although it was one of his main concerns once the next six months were through.

"You're sure about this?" Marcel questioned. "And I'm not referring to Caroline so much as I am referring to Grayson. Taking care of him won't be easy. It's a big deal. It'll change your whole life. You can't be the cool uncle anymore you have to be a father. Sure, you'll get to teach him fun stuff, but ultimately, you need to show him how to be a man," Marcel informed him.

_Marcel's last comment struck a chord with him. He still felt like Grayson's uncle, but he was not naive. Grayson was too young to remember Elijah on his own. For all intents and purposes, Grayson would know him as his father, and even though he was beginning to come to terms with that reality, it still made him anxious. _

_But, if he could appreciate the warnings from anyone, it was Marcel. After all, Marcel had experience with two kids of his own. _

"I know," he nodded. "I'm sure about this," he said confidently.

_Marcel smiled encouragingly. _

"Well I guess you've made up your mind then," Marcel concluded.

"This is what Elijah and Elena wanted," he explained. "They wanted Caroline and I to raise him, even if all I know about taking care of babies I learned in the past seventy-two hours," he chuckled.

_Marcel laughed alongside him as he patted him on the back. _

"Don't worry about that. As long as your heart's in it, that's what matters most. You're no different than any other first time parent. You'll get the hang of it. Looking back, I'm surprised Jade made it through her first year without any major issue considering Shay and I were practically kids ourselves," Marcel said amusedly.

"I just can't turn my back on Elijah or Grayson," he admitted.

_Marcel rested his hand on his shoulder. _

"Most people wouldn't be able to do what you're doing," Marcel acknowledged. "Grayson will appreciate that when he's older. And you know I can appreciate it; my aunt and uncle raised me practically my whole life. When I didn't think I had any family, I came to realize I had one all along," he admitted.

_He sighed, thinking about his own family and those he had lost. _

"Save for Kol and Rebekah, I feel like I've lost mine," he conceded regretfully.

_Marcel nodded sympathetically before shrugging. _

"Well maybe out of this tragedy, you'll gain a new one?" Marcel proposed.

* * *

_Grayson was screaming in her lap as she tried to explain over the phone to the panicked future Mrs. Sarah Galloway - the Galloways being one of the more prominent families in Mystic Falls next to the Lockwoods - that she was going to need another few days to finish the alterations to her wedding dress, though she was leaving for her destination wedding in Hawaii in a week. _

_Sarah had been a year older than her. They had both been on the cheerleading squad. Sarah was captain in her final year and had always been completely unforgiving about any slight mistakes. Sure, she had been the same when she took over as captain, but within reason. It seemed Sarah's unforgiving nature held firm, even now, despite the fact that Sarah was well aware of her recent change in circumstances. _

_While she could sympathize with her irate anxiety over the dress, she hoped Sarah would understand. _

_Her anger was only calmed once she agreed to discount the cost of the alterations. _

_After she hung up the phone, she released a drawn out sigh that was easily overpowered by Grayson's cries. _

"What did she say?" Camille wondered from the doorway to her office space.

"I had to reduce the cost of the alterations, but she agreed to give me until Saturday afternoon," she explained.

_Camille scoffed. _

"What a bitch," Camille groaned, covering her mouth apologetically in hindsight as she glanced at Grayson. "She's the one who brought the dress to you last minute in the first place," she continued defensively. "It's not your fault that you were delayed. Doesn't she have any decency? She knows what happened."

_She shrugged, feeling defeated as Grayson started to cry harder. _

"Regardless, I can't stress about it right now," she decided as she stood up from the chair. "I need to take Grayson down to the hospital to get checked out."

"You haven't even eaten any lunch yet," Camille noted concerned.

_Suddenly noting the quiet rumble of her stomach, she did her best to ignore it as she bundled Grayson in his outerwear. _

"It'll have to wait. I can't leave Grayson like this any longer. He has to be in pain," she concluded as she buckled a very angry Grayson into his carrier.

_Camille nodded as she helped her pack up Grayson's bag. _

"He seemed okay earlier," Camille pointed out.

_She shook her head unknowingly, slipping on her coat. _

"I don't know what's wrong, but something definitely isn't right," she conceded.

_She picked up Grayson's carrier and Camille handed her both Grayson's bag and her purse. _

"I hope you're feeling better, little guy," Camille said as she crouched down to wave at him. "Let me know what the doctor says, or if there's anything I can do," Camille offered, standing back up straight.

"I will," she agreed. "You and April will probably have to close the store again tonight. If all goes well, Grayson and I should be back here tomorrow morning. I'll let you know," she said.

_After a quick goodbye to April, she hurriedly loaded Grayson and their things into the car before setting out for the hospital._

* * *

_The car ride had seemed to pacify him and by the time they arrived, he was asleep. _

_In the emergency room, she was assigned a number and asked to wait. _

_Though being here filled her with unease because of Grayson's condition and the tragic events that had unfolded here last Friday, being able to sit down with a quiet Grayson was a relief. _

_Grayson's slumber did not last for long, however. Fifteen minutes into her wait and he was awake and as loud as ever. _

_She tried to soothe him by bouncing him in her lap as her leg jerked anxiously against the chair in the waiting room. _

"Shhh," she whispered. "It's okay, sweetie," she said into his ear, partially shielding her face from the other perturbed patients whose impatient frustration was only exacerbated by her crying baby.

_She used to get so annoyed by people like her. _

_This morning had seemed to start out okay, despite the fact that Grayson had woke her up at the crack of dawn and his diaper was a little messier than she was used to. He had still been a little fussy, but he drank the formula she prepared for him, nonetheless. _

_With her confidence reassured, she had decided to go ahead with her plan to take him to the store with her. _

_She had no choice; Klaus was in New York and there was work she needed to finish. _

_Between her, Camille, and April at the store to keep an eye on Grayson, she was certain she would be able to at least get something done. _

_With all his necessities packed, including the playpen, she got him and everything else loaded into the car without issue. _

_Grayson had fallen asleep in the car and this had enabled her to set up his things in the back room and open the store relatively effortlessly. _

_When the girls arrived to work, Grayson even greeted them with a few smiles in response to their verbal stimulation. _

_She assured Camille and April that this wasn't going to be a common occurrence; she didn't want them thinking babysitter was being involuntarily added to their job description despite their enthusiasm over Grayson and assurances that it wasn't a problem. _

_The rest of the morning at the store went off without much of a hitch. _

_Grayson remained with Camille and April in the front of the store, becoming quite the hit with the customers, while she managed to get some work done in the back. _

_Come the afternoon though, Grayson was as miserable as ever and that's when she had made the decision to take him to the hospital. _

_She just hoped they would be seen by a doctor soon. _

_The glares she was receiving from the other patients were becoming suffocating. _

_And as if the situation couldn't get any worse, her phone started to sound from inside her purse. _

_Balancing Grayson in one hand, she reached into her purse for her phone, deciding to check it, concerned that it might be April or Camille. _

_She was surprised to see Klaus's name on the screen, and she felt her cheeks redden a little as their last text conversation crossed her mind. _

'_How is Grayson?' the message read. _

_Despite the chaos in the waiting room, she found herself smiling at his random message of concern. _

_She considered replying, but Grayson's arms were flailing and she could barely hear herself think over his cries. Besides, what would she tell Klaus now? That she and Grayson were at the hospital? It would only cause him unnecessary worry. She would wait to text him once she knew what was wrong and Grayson was settled. _

_Slipping her phone back in her purse, she couldn't help but overhear an elderly woman complain accusatorily about the noise Grayson was making. _

_Frowning, she decided she couldn't sit here anymore. Without much thought, she stuffed her purse and Grayson's bag into the carrier and stood up with it in one hand and Grayson in the other, trudging out of the waiting room dejectedly. _

_She charged towards the nurse who had seen her earlier, set upon pleading with her to let them see a doctor immediately. _

"Caroline?" a vaguely familiar voice said.

_Turning to the right, she was met with a pair of crystal blue eyes and an alluring, but dangerous, smile. _

_Damon Salvatore. _

_His presence surprised her. She didn't expect to see him here._

"Hi...Damon," she said, taken off guard.

"Hey," he began, looking at both her and Grayson worriedly.

"What are you doing here?" she asked confused.

"Klaus didn't tell you? I'm filling in temporarily..." he trailed off.

_She quickly realized what he was about to say. _

"For Elijah," she sighed.

_He nodded regretfully. _

"I figured it was the least I could do, plus I'm the only one qualified without any personal commitments who could be here on short notice," he said. "So what brings you by? Is everything all right?" he wondered, quickly opting to change the subject.

_She shook her head exasperatedly. _

"I've been waiting here for nearly a half hour. Grayson won't stop crying. He's been like this since yesterday. He's been having trouble sleeping and eating. I can't figure out what's wrong," she sighed helplessly. "He only seems to be getting worse."

"Here, let me see him," Damon said, extending his hands.

_For some reason, despite her reluctance, she found herself handing over Grayson to him, freeing her arm from the weight. _

"Follow me," he instructed.

_At this point, all she could feel was hope and relief that Damon might have an answer for Grayson's distress. The fact that he was leading her down some corridor with Grayson in his arms with no explanation was of little concern to her. She was desperate. _

_He led them into an empty exam room and shut the door. _

"I'm not a general practitioner by any means, but I know a bit about pediatrics. I'm sure it's nothing serious," Damon assured her as he sat Grayson on the exam table. "Can you hold him, so I can take a look?" he requested.

_She nodded and quickly stepped forward to hold Grayson safely in place. _

"You won't get in trouble for this will you? I'm sure you're supposed to be somewhere else," she said guiltily.

_Damon smirked and shook his head. _

"I'm just finishing up my break," he told her.

_He inspected Grayson carefully despite Grayson's protests. _

"God, this kid is the spitting image of his father," Damon sighed.

_She agreed. It had been a bittersweet reality that had confronted her since Elena and Elijah had been gone. _

"Have you noticed anything on his body - rashes, bumps?" Damon listed as he lifted Grayson's shirt to check his heartbeat with his stethoscope.

"No," she replied, quickly reflecting upon whether or not she had noticed anything abnormal. "He had a little diarrhea this morning, and like I said, he hasn't been sleeping well and he hasn't had much of an appetite," she told him.

"Have you changed anything in his diet?" Damon wondered as he felt Grayson's forehead.

"I started supplementing formula into his diet since we're almost out of breast milk," she informed him. "But he was already acting this way before that," she added.

_Damon gave Grayson a curious look. _

"He feels a little on the warm side. I'm gonna take his temperature," Damon said. "Can you undress him?"

_She hesitated. _

"The best way to take a baby's temperature is rectally," he shrugged casually.

"He might need to be changed first," she said as she began to remove his pants

"That's fine," Damon laughed as he put on some gloves and prepared a thermometer.

_She laid Grayson down and took off the onesie he had on underneath his pants and then moved onto his diaper, pleased to find that it was still dry from his most recent changing. _

"All clear," Damon joked. "Could you lift his legs?" he requested.

_She did as he asked and watched apprehensively as Damon inserted the thermometer. _

"Well this isn't exactly the way I had envisioned seeing you next," Damon mused as they waited for the temperature reading.

_She couldn't help but laugh at the comment due to the awkward circumstances. _

"I didn't know you planned on it?" she inquired, slightly embarrassed after the fact by her bold assumption.

_Damon shrugged. _

"Well I just assumed since my brother is your lawyer and good friends with Klaus that we would cross paths again eventually," he said.

"Oh...yeah, I guess so," she agreed, even more humiliated now by her earlier insinuation.

"This is a pleasant surprise though, Grayson's troubles aside," he added shooting her another one of his lethal grins.

_She stammered a little, finding herself flustered by his less than subtle advance. _

"Speaking of Klaus, where is he?" Damon inquired.

_She tensed in response to his question. _

"He's in New York," she said.

"Cold feet already?" Damon concluded.

_His accusation made her feel defensive. _

"No, he had to go back and wrap up some work. It couldn't wait," she said. "We have a custody hearing for Grayson on Friday. He'll be back then," she added, hoping to reaffirm Klaus's commitment not only for Damon, but for herself.

_Damon nodded as the thermometer beeped, interrupting their current topic of conversation. He removed the thermometer and inspected the reading. _

"He has a bit of a fever. One hundred and one degrees Fahrenheit," Damon told her.

_She felt herself begin to panic as Damon set the thermometer aside and removed his gloves, putting on a new pair. _

"What's causing it?" she asked, as she sat Grayson back up and stroked his back.

"I'm not sure yet. He's probably fighting off some sort of illness," Damon informed her, taking hold of Grayson as he used an otoscope to look into his ears.

_After the ears, he struggled for a few minutes to get a look inside Grayson's mouth. When Grayson finally gave in, Damon smiled. _

"Aha! I think I know what's got Grayson so grumpy," Damon announced, urging her to look inside Grayson's mouth.

_He directed her attention to his lower gum. _

"He's getting ready to cut a few chompers," he told her.

_She noticed his swollen gum and what appeared to be a tooth coming in. _

"I can't believe I didn't think about that," she scolded herself. "I didn't even notice how swollen his gum had gotten," she said guiltily.

"It's easily overlooked," Damon reassured her. "Doctors aren't really sure why some babies spike a fever when they start teething, but teething certainly explains most of his other symptoms."

"How do I soothe him?" she wondered.

"There are plenty of teething toys on the market," Damon told her. "But he'll probably love you massaging his gums with your finger just as much. Give him some chilled foods like yogurt or applesauce, or even a cold spoon to nibble on. That will give him some relief. As for his fever, you may want to give him some infant acetaminophen, but letting it break naturally is probably best. Make sure he's hydrated and has plenty of opportunity to eat and rest if he feels like it," he instructed. "Other than that, there's not much else you can do. Every baby goes through it to some degree."

_She nodded, still a little surprised about what was going on. _

"His first tooth," she noted aloud, as she took Grayson from Damon and put his diaper back on.

"It's a milestone," Damon smiled encouragingly. "You have nothing to be worried about. There's nothing wrong. Before you know it, Grayson will be losing these teeth."

_She gave him a half-smile as she looked back down at Grayson while she dressed him. _

_All she felt was conflicted. She was excited about Grayson's development. He was growing, and she was a part of that process. However, there was something wrong; Elijah and Elena were not here to be a part of it as well. This was the first of many firsts they wouldn't be a part of, she realized. _

"Are you okay?" Damon inquired. "Grayson is going to be fine," he reiterated, touching her shoulder.

"I'm all right," she said quickly, shirking from his attempt to comfort her as she put Grayson's pants back on him. "It's just a relief to know that nothing's wrong."

_It wasn't exactly a lie; a part of her was emotional over the fact that Grayson was perfectly fine. _

"Thanks for taking a look at him, Damon," she said genuinely.

_So apparently, Damon Salvatore wasn't the complete asshole her first impression and Klaus had said that he was. _

"It's my job," he replied modestly, hesitating for a moment before continuing. "Elijah was a good friend. I'll always look out for Grayson in any way I can."

_She nodded understandingly before she finished dressing Grayson. _

"Let me walk you out," Damon offered, picking up Grayson's carrier along with Grayson's bag and her purse.

_Agreeing, she picked Grayson up and followed him out of the room. _

_In the hall, they practically bumped into Meredith who was focused on her phone. _

"Damon...Caroline," Meredith acknowledged, clearly confused by the sight of them together.

"Hey," she greeted as Meredith put her phone in the pocket of her white lab coat.

"Hi, sorry, I was just checking e-mails on the way to my next consultation," she apologized.

"Sexy e-mails from my brother, I hope," Damon chuckled.

_Meredith scowled and shook her head. _

_She had to bite back a small laugh. _

"What are you doing here?" Meredith questioned, looking at a still agitated Grayson in her arms. "Is everything okay?"

"Grayson's been out of sorts the past two days; he's been grumpy, he hasn't been sleeping or eating well, so I brought him here. I ran into Damon and he offered to check Grayson out," she explained.

"It turns out, he's beginning to teethe," Damon informed Meredith.

_Meredith stroked Grayson's cheek concernedly. _

"Awe," Meredith sighed, "poor guy. I bet dealing with him on your own today without Klaus has been stressful," she commented.

_She raised a curious eyebrow. _

"Klaus talked to Stefan yesterday before he left for New York," Meredith reminded her.

_Oh yes, that's right, Klaus had mentioned something about that yesterday. _

"I still have to talk to Stefan about the hearing on Friday," she noted.

"Why don't you and Grayson come over for dinner tonight?" Meredith suggested.

_She looked at Grayson and hesitated. _

"I don't know if that's a good idea," she debated.

_Meredith was about to speak, but Damon quickly cut her off. _

"It will give you a chance to talk with Stefan, you won't have to cook for yourself, and you'll have six extra hands to help you with Grayson for a while," Damon encouraged her.

_Meredith nodded, as though what Damon said had been what she originally planned to say herself. _

"Grayson's been so grumpy though all afternoon. I don't want him to ruin your dinner," she said guiltily. "I don't want to impose."

"Don't worry about it!" Meredith assured her. "Stefan and I would love to have the both of you over."

_She considered Meredith's invitation once more. _

_Damon did have a point, it would allow her the chance to talk to Stefan and give her a little reprieve from Grayson with the three of them there to keep him occupied. _

"If I can get Grayson to take a bit of a nap this afternoon beforehand, then we'll come over," she decided. "I will let you know."

_Both Damon and Meredith seemed pleased with her compromise. _

"Dinner is at six," Meredith informed her. "Now I have to run and get to my appointment." she said hurriedly before speed walking down the corridor.

_Damon walked her out to the car and held Grayson for her while she got his car seat in place. _

"Thanks again," she repeated as she secured Grayson in his seat.

_Damon handed her Grayson's bag and her purse. _

"Don't mention it," he told her as he stuffed his hands in the pockets of his lab coat.

_She nodded. _

"You should get back inside," she urged him guiltily as she shut the backseat door. "It's chilly out here."

"My break is also over," he chuckled as his phone vibrated from inside his pocket. "I'll see you tonight, Caroline," he said to her with a confident smile, striding back towards the hospital before she had a chance to correct his assumption.

_Shaking herself out of the trance he'd seemed to have left her in, she climbed in the car and drove both her and Grayson back home._

* * *

_She stood in front of the bathroom mirror for a good ten minutes, scrutinizing her appearance as Grayson sat beside her in his ExerSaucer. _

_When she found herself questioning once more over whether or not to keep the turquoise and black printed blouse with the gray buttoned up sweater, she turned away from the mirror with a scoff. _

_This shouldn't be difficult. She shouldn't even be having this debate with herself. _

"This is stupid," she complained to Grayson, who, now in happier spirits after he had a lengthy nap and she employed some of Damon's recommendations, babbled back to her. "Does Auntie Caroline look all right?" she asked him, posing in front of him.

_He smiled and tipped his head back. _

"I guess that's a yes?" she wondered amusedly. "Well you look good, too," she cooed, admiring the cute elephant shirt he was wearing with the red pants that were still a little big for him.

_Who cared what she looked like? Why did her appearance matter? It was just dinner at Meredith and Stefan's. _

_She scolded herself for trying to play naive. She knew exactly why she was so concerned. Damon Salvatore would be there, and though she was well aware of the fact that trying to impress him was a terrible idea in the long run given his familiar reputation, this subtle effort was probably harmless. She was content to revel in the innocent attention he gave her. She missed it. It was nice to know someone might be interested, even if it was only for one thing. _

_Convinced that her appearance was satisfactory, she left with Grayson for his room to finish packing his bag for the trip to Stefan and Meredith's._

* * *

_Meredith and Stefan's house was an old Victorian two-storey home located a few blocks from the house she grew up in. _

_The house boasted much of the original features that gave it its old world charm. _

_To be honest, she had always been terrified of the house when she was younger because the previous owners had let it fall into such disrepair. _

_Because of that, Meredith and Stefan were able to get a good deal on it and had slowly been working on restoring it to its original beauty. _

_She walked up the stairs onto the front porch with Grayson, and knocked on the large antique wooden door. _

_Not surprisingly, Damon was quick to answer, dressed casually now in a black t-shirt and jeans. _

"I'm glad to see you decided to come," he greeted, stepping aside so she could enter the small vestibule before the main foyer.

"Well Grayson had a decent nap this afternoon and seems to be a little calmer," she reasoned as she set Grayson down in his carrier along with their things, so she could take her coat and boots off.

"Hey little man," Damon said down to Grayson as she stepped out of her boots.

_Quickly, Damon took the initiative and stepped in behind her when she started for her coat. _

"Let me get it for you," he offered, helping her remove the coat.

"Thanks," she replied, at a loss for what else to say.

_While Damon hung her coat up on one of the hooks in the vestibule, she released Grayson from the confines of his coat and the carrier. _

"Meredith and Stefan are just putting the final touches on dinner," Damon said. "Come in," he urged, leading her into the main foyer.

_She followed Damon to the right, taking her into the large formal dining room off of the kitchen. She took a moment to appreciate the way Meredith and Stefan had found a balance between old world charm and modern design. _

"Grab a seat," Damon said, nodding towards the solid-wood table already set for dinner.

"I should see if Meredith and Stefan need any help?" she mentioned, still feeling like she was imposing or being a burden.

"No, sit, you're the guest. I'll go check," Damon offered, disappearing into the kitchen, just as Stefan walked past him with a bottle of wine in hand.

"Dinner is ready," Stefan announced, jokingly, holding up the bottle of wine. "Hey, Caroline," he greeted.

"Hey," she nodded with a smile.

_Stefan set the wine down on the table and approached Grayson. _

"How's he doing? Klaus told me he wasn't himself yesterday when we spoke on the phone, and Damon and Meredith tell me he's getting ready to pop in some teeth?" Stefan inquired.

"He's a bit better; he's slowly getting back to his usual happy self. I think he appreciated the cold yogurt I fed him today," she said, looking at Grayson with a relieved smirk.

_Stefan tickled Grayson teasingly eliciting a playful shriek from him; one she had missed hearing over the past day. _

"I was born with two teeth," Stefan mused, continuing to make faces at Grayson.

"Yeah, only two; Stefan wears dentures," Damon joked as he came into the room with a covered glass dish.

"Well it's better than half a brain," Stefan shot back jovially, turning to unscrew the cap from the wine bottle.

_She couldn't help but laugh and Grayson mimicked her. _

"So lame, brother," Damon retorted, setting the hot dish down on the table and removed the oven mitt he had on.

_Stefan shrugged as he sat down at the head of the table. _

"Grayson thought it was funny."

"Are you two bickering again?" Meredith complained, as she stepped in the room with what looked like a variety of cooked vegetables and a salad. "You wouldn't be able to tell they're brothers," Meredith said to her sarcastically with an amused smile.

_Meredith set her dishes down and took a seat beside Stefan. _

_She followed suit and took the seat across from Stefan with Grayson in her lap, while Damon readily took the seat next to hers. _

"Thanks for coming, Caroline. I'm being suffocated by all the testosterone in the house," Meredith groaned laughingly as they began to fill their plates and Stefan offered to pour the wine.

"No problem," she grinned.

"It's all me," Damon said smugly.

_Both Meredith and Stefan rolled their eyes. _

_Damon handed her a cold spoon. _

"That will hopefully keep Grayson amused," he told her.

_She grinned at his thoughtfulness and showed Grayson the small dessert spoon. _

_Grayson latched his tiny fingers around it eagerly and immediately - as though instinctively - put it in his mouth. _

"Told you," Damon said proudly.

_She laughed as she did her best to scoop some salad and vegetables on her plate with Grayson on her lap. _

"It's funny, because Klaus and I cannot get him to eat his food from a spoon," she said. "We can't figure it out."

"Maybe he gets that from his father," Damon chuckled. "Stefan, remember when we went to New York for Elijah's bachelor weekend..."

_Stefan glared at him and then looked at her. _

_Damon hesitated and looked at her noting her slight discomfort with mention of Elijah. _

"I don't have to tell the story," he offered.

_She sighed and shrugged off her uneasiness. She wanted to remember Elijah and Elena; not forget them; she wanted to hear the story. _

"No...go ahead, I want to hear it," she encouraged, putting some of the roasted chicken on her plate.

"As you probably know, Klaus organized Elijah's bachelor party in New York. So, we go out that night, make the usual rounds: pub, nightclub, strip club. At the end of the night Elijah was completely shit faced," Damon laughed. "By that point, Stefan had returned to our hotel like the good little boyfriend that he is, and Klaus had disappeared with some chick, leaving me to babysit Elijah. We're both drunk, but Elijah was sloshed, so we stumbled down the street as I attempted to hail us a cab. We ended up passing some twenty-four hour dessert shop that Elijah demands he just has to patronize. He actually said 'patronize' by the way," Damon snorted. "Anyways, so we go into this store and Elijah orders some type of cheesecake. I think half of it ended up on his face," he laughed. "I took a video of him trying to eat it on my old phone, but he made me delete it the next day. God, it was hilarious," he howled.

_She laughed along with the three others, though she couldn't help but note Damon's subtle mention of Klaus's promiscuity. _

"Actually, I think I remember Elena telling me something about that," she acknowledged, before taking her first bite of food.

_Having missed out on lunch, she was starving. _

"So how did you guys meet Elijah and Klaus? I think I remember Elijah saying that your dad's worked together?" she asked curiously, interested to know the story behind their friendships.

_Stefan nodded. _

"Our dad and Mikael worked in Washington together before Mikael was transferred back to the firm's offices overseas," Stefan confirmed once he finished chewing his food. "They often hosted large parties and picnics for employees and their families."

"Christmas parties, Easter egg hunts, Fourth of July celebrations, you name it. They even hosted a camp for kids in the summer; that's how we met," Damon interjected.

"I don't even remember how old we were," Stefan recalled.

"I think Elijah and I were probably about thirteen, Finn would have been twelve, making Klaus ten, and you nine?" Damon estimated.

_Stefan shrugged. _

"I guess that sounds right," Stefan agreed.

"Anyways, from what I remember, Klaus was pissed because he couldn't bunk with the eleven to thirteen year olds and had to bunk with the eight to ten year olds - or something like that. Either way, he wanted to be with Elijah and the counsellors wouldn't let him. Needless to say, at some point, he took his frustration out on Stefan," Damon recounted.

_She looked at Stefan with a surprised look. _

"I don't even think I know this story," Meredith chimed in before sipping from her wine glass.

_Stefan laughed. _

"Yeah, Klaus made my life a living hell for about a week until Damon and Elijah caught him in the act," Stefan mused.

_Hearing about the four of them as children intrigued her. The fact that Klaus had been Stefan's bully was not something she expected. _

"What happened?" she queried.

"Elijah and I were outside with the rest of our group ready go canoeing when we noticed Klaus push Stefan right off the dock into the lake without a lifejacket, knowing full well that Stefan wasn't the greatest swimmer," Damon scoffed.

_She gasped at Klaus's cruelty. _

"He's still not a good swimmer," Meredith affirmed.

_Damon smirked while Stefan shot her a glare. _

"Anyways, Elijah jumped in the water to get Stefan while I punched Klaus square in the jaw with enough force to knock him back right off the dock," Damon bragged.

_Her eyes widened, and she found herself smirking at Damon's tale. _

"What happened after that? How did you all end up becoming friends?" Meredith asked.

"Well Klaus is still a little bitter about the fact that I punched him, so we're not exactly the closest," Damon chuckled. "Elijah and I were already familiar with one another because we bunked together, but I guess we bonded over teaching Klaus some manners. I threatened Klaus into being nice to my baby bro, and by the end of the summer they were good pals," he explained.

"That's a cute story," she awed, trying to eat more despite the fact that Grayson was starting to fidget and lose interest in the spoon.

"The moral of the story is that Damon is the only one allowed to terrorize me," Stefan concluded mirthfully.

"That's my job," Damon snickered.

"Up to this very day," Stefan groaned.

_Damon held up his hands with both utensils in defense. _

"Hey, I said I'd be out of your hair as soon as I can find a temporary place to rent. Trust me, listening to the two of you go at it in the other room every night is not my idea of a good time," Damon retorted, causing both Meredith and Stefan to blush.

"We told you that you could stay here as long as you like," Stefan countered.

"Yeah, it's not a big deal, Damon," Meredith added.

"I need my own space. My apartment in Baltimore might technically be half the size of this place, but it feels three times the size," Damon protested. "I like being on my own."

"You could rent my apartment," she blurted out prematurely, having not thought it over.

_All three of them looked at her curiously. _

"How long are you planning to stay in Mystic Falls?" she asked Damon.

"Just until they can find a replacement; I'd say two or three months max, probably," he told her.

_This could be her only hope of securing a temporary renter for at least part of the duration of her stay at Elena and Elijah's. She was eager to bring in some extra income, plus, Damon was not a complete stranger. _

"I'll be at Elena and Elijah's for the next six months. My apartment will be empty. I was hoping to rent it out while I was absent," she revealed. "You could stay there; It's downtown, above my store; It's probably a fifteen minute walk to the hospital."

_Damon seemed thoroughly interested. _

"So you'd be my landlord?" Damon chuckled.

"I guess so," she shrugged.

"Count me in," Damon said decidedly.

_She gave him a look of bewilderment. _

"Don't you want to see it first? Or discuss rent?" she inquired.

_He shook his head. _

"I just want to get out of here," Damon mused. "When can I move in?" he added eagerly.

_Taken aback by how suddenly all of this was happening, she stammered a bit. _

"Well, if you work on Monday, Sunday, I suppose," she suggested.

"Sounds good to me," Damon agreed.

"I guess you have yourself a place to stay, then," Meredith cheerfully.

"You could be making a big mistake," Stefan warned her with a mocking smile.

_She shrugged again with a laugh while Grayson began to whimper and become fussier. _

"I think I can handle him," she assured Stefan.

_Damon's eyebrows arched instantly as he smirked mischievously. _

"Did you hear that, brother? She can handle me," Damon declared.

"Don't make her rescind the offer before you even move in," Meredith urged him.

_She smirked, trying to get a reign in on Grayson who was becoming more interested in the contents on the table than the spoon. _

_As she expected, the utensil was dropped on the wood floor as he tried to escape her grasp in favour of the table. _

"If she can live with Klaus and handle this little monkey, then I think I'm fine," Damon joked, waving at Grayson to distract him. "Do you want me to take him?" Damon offered. "You've barely been able to eat your food," he pointed out as she continued to struggle with him.

_Before she could protest, Damon was already reaching for Grayson, and she let him. _

"He's probably going to freak out," she warned. "He isn't too keen on strangers. He was already in a bad mood earlier when you held him so we couldn't tell the difference," she said, quickly taking a bite of chicken while she had the chance.

"Most babies start to get wary of strangers at this age," Meredith informed them.

"Not when you distract them," Damon countered, pulling out his phone from his pocket.

_She ate some more, appreciative of Damon's offer to take Grayson and occupy him_

"So how is living with Klaus so far?" Damon asked curiously.

_The question made her tense as she quickly mulled over why Damon would be asking her. _

"Fine," she said politely, refusing to fill them in on the fact that she and Klaus had already butted heads on more than one occasion. "We haven't really had time to get into a routine yet, but I'm not too concerned. It's only for six months."

"Luckily for you," Damon laughed.

_She feigned a smile, though Damon's negativity when it came to Klaus annoyed her for some reason. _

"Has he been on diaper duty yet?" Damon questioned with amusement.

"He's been really good with Grayson, actually," she nodded, coming to Klaus's defense.

_In spite of Klaus's occasional lapses in judgement, she had to admit, that when it came down to it, he had really stepped up as far as Grayson was concerned. _

"That's good," Meredith said encouragingly.

_There was a moment of silence and she fully expected Damon to inquire more into her living arrangement with Klaus so she raced to change the topic. _

_Noting how mesmerized Grayson was with Damon's phone, she decided to start there. Grayson was always a neutral topic. _

"Maybe I'll have to dig out my old phone for him to play with when I try to take him to work again tomorrow," she thought aloud.

"You tried taking him to work with you today?" Meredith asked curiously.

_She nodded. _

"I really didn't have a choice. Klaus is in New York and there's so much work I have to get done," she sighed. "I'm hoping now that I know how to soothe him while he's teething, that tomorrow will go better."

"I'm surprised the hospital hasn't called you yet," Meredith said.

_Meredith's remark confused her. _

"Were they supposed to?" she asked dumbfounded.

"Well from what I overheard, administrators were going to save Grayson's daycare spot, so he could continue to go...even though Elijah and Elena no longer work there," Meredith said. "You should call them. It would certainly make things a lot easier for you and Klaus. Plus I know they love Grayson there."

_She considered what Meredith said hopefully. Having daycare available for him would make things so much easier. _

"Yeah, I will," she agreed. "Klaus will be at the house anyways once he gets back, so it's not that big of a deal, but it would be nice for Grayson to socialize with other children," she said. "I guess I shouldn't get ahead of myself though. We should probably wait to see what happens on Friday with the custody hearing," she realized, looking to Stefan.

_Stefan shook his head nonchalantly. _

"You and Klaus don't have anything to worry about," he reassured her. "It's just the hearing to set up your temporary guardianship. Since your names are clearly in the will, it's a clear-cut decision for the judge to make. Just show up for noon and tell Klaus to wear a suit," Stefan said.

"Will we have to say anything?" she asked.

"I'll do the talking. You'll only have to say anything if the judge speaks directly to you. The actual hearing should take no more than a few minutes. It's waiting our turn that tends to be time consuming," Stefan explained.

_Stefan's confidence with regards to Friday put her anxiety at ease. _

"You guys will be fine," Meredith said.

_She exhaled sharply. _

"I guess it's not Friday that concerns me; it's getting through the next six months with the dark cloud of Mikael and Esther looming over our heads," she sighed.

"Don't let that eat away at you," Stefan recommended. "We'll cross that bridge, when or if we come to it," he stated.

* * *

_It was just after dinner when he finally pried himself away from the painting and declared it finished. _

_With plans to meet up with Marcel to grab something to eat, he took the train back home to quickly shower and change. _

_He was confronted by his phone and Henrik's necklace on the edge of the small bathroom counter when he was finished his shower. _

_After putting the necklace back on, he picked up his phone and scanned it for a response from Caroline to the text he had sent earlier regarding Grayson. _

_The only new message in his inbox was one from Marcel stating that he was going to meet him at his apartment instead._

_He returned to his room, dressing casually in some jeans and a black Henley. _

_Caroline's failure to text him back hours after he sent his original message was nagging at him. _

_He brought up their text conversation once more and decided to send another message. _

_Half-way through though, he erased it. _

_He didn't want to annoy her, or make it seem like he was harassing her. _

_At the same time, her lack of response troubled him. _

_Before he could allow himself the time to hesitate, he clicked on her name and his phone began to dial her number. _

_On the third ring, he was tempted to end the call as he paced in his living room, waiting for her to answer. _

"Hello?" her bubbly voice answered. "Klaus?"

_He exhaled. _

"Caroline...hey," he started.

"Hey," she replied.

_He paused and tried to think of something to say to explain his call. _

"Given how our conversation went last night, I figured it would be safer to call you than text you," he smirked.

_He heard her scoff amusedly on the other end. _

"I knew you weren't going to let me live that down," she groaned.

"Of course not, love," He laughed, deciding to leave his teasing at that for now. "This isn't a bad time is it?" he asked, realizing that he might have called while she was preoccupied with Grayson. "I texted you earlier."

_Immediately he heard Caroline sigh. _

"Shit, I'm sorry, I completely forgot to reply. It's been a chaotic day. This isn't a bad time. I just put Grayson to sleep," she informed him.

"Another late night for him?" he questioned, knowing it was after eight o'clock. "Is he still not himself?" he wondered.

"It was my fault this time," she conceded. "We went over to Meredith and Stefan's for dinner."

"Was Damon there?" he asked quickly, without even considering the implications of his question.

_His expression narrowed as he anticipated her answer. _

"Yeah, he was," she replied.

_He rolled his eyes. _

"Actually, he's sort of the reason went there for dinner in the first place," she said.

_He tensed, automatically making the assumption that Damon had offered the invitation. _

"I took Grayson to the hospital earlier today," she started.

"What?" he interjected. "You took him to the hospital? Is he okay?"

_She paused. _

"Yeah, he's fine now. Earlier he was still miserable and it only seemed to be getting worse, so I decided to get him checked out, just to be on the safe side. We waited for a while, but ended up running into Damon and he offered to take a look at Grayson," she informed him. "Then after, we ran into Meredith and she invited us over for dinner."

"Did Damon find out what was bothering Grayson?" he asked, feeling annoyed for some reason that Damon had come to Caroline and Grayson's aid.

_She laughed. _

"He's starting to teethe," Caroline announced. "He's cutting his first couple of teeth; that's why he's been so out of sorts lately."

_It seemed like such an obvious cause of Grayson's distress. He was surprised they hadn't suspected that sooner, but then again, he didn't know anything about children's development. He had no idea when babies started to teethe. _

_The fact that Grayson was beginning to sprout teeth both alarmed him and amazed him at the same time. He wondered if cutting teeth was anywhere nearly as painful as having them pulled? He had his wisdom teeth removed when he was a teenager and wouldn't wish that experience on anyone. He didn't want Grayson to be in pain. _

_That said, he felt a strange awe and excitement over this step in Grayson's growth. He couldn't help but smile a little at the thought of Grayson with a small tooth in his mouth. _

"So Damon recommended picking Grayson up a few teething toys, feeding him cold foods, massaging his gums...Damon gave him a cold spoon at dinner tonight and that seemed to calm him down until he got bored," she recounted.

_He scowled as she rambled on about Damon. _

"You should have called me," he heard himself saying to her with a bitter tone his voice.

"I didn't text you at the hospital because I didn't want you to worry if it was nothing," she reasoned. "Then afterwards, when it turned out to be exactly that, I just forgot," she said. "I didn't think it was a big deal. You were probably busy anyways."

_He frowned. _

"That's not the point," he countered. "We're supposed to be doing this together, aren't we?" he wondered, referring back to her earlier complaints.

_There was a bit of a pause on the other end. _

"I'm sorry. You're right, I should have called you," she admitted. "Anyways, he seems better now. He's out like a light."

"That's good," he said, trying his best to bite back this unrelenting sense of agitation he felt.

"I'm gonna try taking him into the store tomorrow again and see how it goes. Hopefully, I can get some work done," she continued, "but Meredith said the hospital might let us continue taking Grayson to the daycare there, even though it's only for the children of employees. I'm going to call them tomorrow," she said optimistically. "Oh! And Damon is going to be renting out my apartment while he's here. So that could be good for some extra money."

_Damon didn't seem like he was wasting any time as far as Caroline was concerned, he thought to himself. _

"Yeah," he said flatly.

_There was more hesitation from her as she picked up on his lack of enthusiasm. _

"So, how is New York?" she asked, clearly trying to fill the awkward silence and cover over his sudden change in mood, that he himself could barely explain.

"It's good. I finished a painting today. I have another to finish tomorrow. Then I'll be back on Friday," he said.

"Do you need me to pick you up at the airport?" she offered.

_He considered her suggestion for a moment. _

"That might be easiest; if you don't mind?" he inquired, feeling a slight shift in his mood.

"No, I don't. Just make sure to text me your flight details. We have to be in court at noon," she told him. "Stefan also says to wear a suit," she added.

"Okay," he agreed, adding a visit to the dry cleaners to his mental list of things he had to do before he left.

"I think Grayson will be excited to see you when you get back," she said cheerfully.

_He chuckled. _

"We'll see about that. I think food and toys are about the only things that excite him," he mused.

"Maybe so," she replied.

_He heard the buzzer at the door of his apartment go off. _

"Listen, love, I gotta let you go. Marcel is at the door. We're going out to grab something to eat," he told her.

"Oh, okay," she hesitated with a hint of disappointment in her voice. "Have fun. I'll see you Friday morning. Don't forget to text me!"

"I won't," he assured her. "See you Friday," he said before ending the call.

_He tossed his phone on the table and headed for the door to let Marcel up. _

_Within seconds of unlocking the door, he heard Marcel barrel up to his third-story apartment. _

_He opened the door and Marcel came crashing through. _

"The last time I checked it was March," Marcel complained, rubbing his hands together. "What the hell were you doing? Jacking off?"

"I was on the phone with Caroline," he explained, shutting the door.

"So you were jacking off?" Marcel smirked teasingly as he kicked off his combat boots.

_He rolled his eyes. _

"Do you have any cigarettes on you? I forgot to pick some up," Marcel asked.

_He thought about it for a second, realizing he had smoked his last one on the way back to his apartment. He usually always ensured that he had a back-up pack on him, but this time he hadn't. _

"Nah, I'm trying to cut back," he said.

_Marcel gave him a knowing look as he headed over to his kitchen. _

"Actually, you do seem kind of annoyed," Marcel decided, opening his fridge and helping himself to one of the remaining beers . "Is it the nicotine craving or something else? What's up?" he asked, nodding the neck of one of the bottles in his direction as if to offer him one of his own beers.

_He accepted, and Marcel slid the last beer across the counter towards him. _

"Nothing," he shook his head as he twisted off the beer cap.

_Marcel arched an eyebrow at him. _

"Don't bullshit me," Marcel scoffed as he leaned against the counter and took a long swig from his beer.

_He knew Marcel wouldn't relent until he gave him some sort of answer. _

"Caroline took Grayson to the hospital today and forgot to fill me in, even though I texted her earlier asking about him," he revealed.

"Whoa, is he okay?" Marcel asked

_He nodded with a shrug. _

"Apparently, he's just starting to teethe," he told him.

"Teething can be a nightmare, be glad you're here, not there," Marcel chuckled.

"She's just been nagging me about how we have to work together and share responsibility of him, and then she takes him to the hospital and doesn't bother to tell me," he gritted his teeth.

_Marcel shook his head in disapproval. _

"That's not right. Shay always calls me if anything happens with the kids - big or small. I do the same. Communication is key, my friend," Marcel advised. "You can't work with her and take responsibility if she's excluding you," he added.

"That's what I said," he affirmed.

_Marcel launched himself away from the counter and walked around the paper covered dining table. _

"Good," Marcel encouraged him.

"She apologized, but she didn't think she needed to call because '_Dr. Damon'_ saved the day and everything with Grayson turned out to be okay," he groaned, sarcasm oozing from his every word.

_Marcel turned and eyed him suspiciously. _

"Who is _'Dr. Damon'_?" Marcel inquired, with the exact same tone he had employed.

"Remember my friend Stefan Salvatore? He visited in the summer?" he reminded him.

"Yeah, chill guy for a lawyer," Marcel laughed.

"Damon is his brother. Long story short, he and Elijah were friends. Damon's filling in for him at the hospital temporarily. He's a huge prick..."

- "...and he's moving in on your girl," Marcel concluded before he could explain further.

_His face contorted into a confused expression. He looked at Marcel questioningly. _

"I sensed the jealousy in your voice the second you said his name," Marcel shrugged bluntly.

_He recoiled defensively as he swallowed a large sip of beer. _

"One, she's not my girl. Two, I'm not jealous," he argued.

_Marcel shot him an incredulous glare, but remained silent. _

"I just know the kind of guy Damon is..."

"...because you're that guy," Marcel finished for him.

_Being compared to Damon was unsettling, but he knew it was true. He and Damon were too alike in many respects. _

_He nodded, reluctantly. _

"Yeah, I guess I am," he acknowledged. "I know the kind of guy Damon is, I know what he's after, and I know it's not what she wants."

"Because she's supposed to want you instead?" Marcel wondered. "No disrespect, but you're the one who left her hanging a year ago," he reminded him.

_He decided to ignore Marcel's probes that were purposely intended to provoke him. _

"We're raising Grayson together. I'm just looking out for her. I don't want to see her get hurt," he reasoned.

_Marcel didn't look convinced. _

"Are you sure that's all this is?" Marcel confirmed.

"My past with Caroline is firmly in the past. As you already alluded to, I think I thoroughly dissuaded her the last weekend we spent together. Things between us are strictly platonic," he explained, hoping Marcel would believe him to be sincere.

"For now," Marcel stated skeptically.

_He narrowed his expression. _

"She wants nothing to do with me," he argued, knowing that that fact above all was the absolute truth.

_Marcel glanced at him curiously. _

"But can you say the same, my friend?" Marcel inquired skeptically. "She fucked with your head good the last time. You were off your game for weeks."

_There was a moment of contemplative silence between the two of them. _

"Do you want me to give it to you straight?" Marcel asked.

"I know you will regardless," he sighed.

"I think this weekend reminded you of what you walked away from a year ago. It brought it all back home for you, and now you want another taste. But you're afraid, because you might not just want a sample; for the first time, you might be craving something more; you might want the whole thing, and that scares the shit out of you," Marcel explained. "The way you spoke about Caroline today...the way you just ranted about this Damon guy, you sound like a jealous man with his heart on his sleeve."

"Well, I'm not," he denied flatly.

_Marcel scoffed. _

"There would be nothing wrong though, if you were," Marcel assured him. "Sure, the situation is a little delicate at the moment given the circumstances, but there's nothing wrong with feeling something for her. There's more to life than just liquor and meaningless sex," he told him.

_He snorted in disbelief. _

"Really?" he laughed, feeling uncomfortable.

_Marcel gave him a serious look. _

"Love," Marcel stressed. "Family."

"Says the divorced father of two," he retorted.

"That doesn't mean shit," Marcel shot back. "Shay and I grew apart, we wanted different things, we were too young, but I did love her, and I always will, in a way. We'll always be family," Marcel conceded. "Do you even know what love is?" Marcel challenged. "Have you ever been in love?"

"I don't love Caroline," he refuted.

"I'm not saying you do," Marcel stated, "but you could, if your stubbornness and pride don't get in the way."

_He took another generous drink of his beer. _

"All I'm saying is that it's obvious you feel something for her, and I gauged that in a day. It's up to you to decide what you do with that. Either you persuade her to reconsider you, or you leave it alone and let _'Dr. Damon'_ have his chance," Marcel proposed.

"Can we stop talking about this now?" he pleaded.

"Not a problem," Marcel shook his head before taking a swig of his beer and holding up the drawing of Henrik's he had finished last night.

_He set his half-finished bottle on the counter. _

"Did you draw this?" Marcel asked.

"Henrik started it before he died. I found it last night when I was packing up some of my things. I finished it," he admitted.

_Marcel studied the drawing a little more. _

"Birds of a feather, there's a lot of meaning behind that. It would make for some sick ink," Marcel suggested.

_He smirked. _

"Actually, that was my original intention when I saved it," he revealed.

_Marcel's eyes lit up at the coincidence. _

"You still want to?" Marcel asked.

"That was the idea behind finishing it," he nodded.

_Marcel handed him the drawing and took out his phone. _

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"My friend Galen, he's one of the best tattoo artists in Brooklyn; let me hook you up. He works at night. He's always recommending me to people for specialized sketches. I figure I should return the favour. We'll go get something to eat, we'll hit up Galen's shop, and then tomorrow night we'll go out for some drinks since you're bailing on me Friday night. It'll be good," Marcel said, wrapping an arm around his shoulders.

_As much as he welcomed the next day with Marcel as a much needed distraction from reality, he found himself feeling eager for Friday to come._

* * *

**A/N: So? What did you think of the Salvatore dinner? How about Marcel? Where do you think Klaroline is headed next? Your reviews are like crack to me, please remember that. Fuel my addiction! **

**Next time on Tangled Up In Blue *spoiler alert*:**

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**Klaus returns to Mystic Falls and Caroline finds herself a little surprised by her reaction. Klaus and Caroline go to court with Grayson. In lieu of their court appearance, as they try to adjust to their new arrangement, Klaus may try to heed some of Bonnie or Marcel's advice. This effort could help them reach a better understanding of one another and ultimately serve to bring them a little closer together than they were before Klaus left. Dun dun dun. Any theories? Stay tuned! **


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: Um, so can I just say that you guys are amazing? Even after a chapter that didn't contain much direct Klaroline you still filled my inbox with over 70 reviews! I appreciated reading all your thoughts on the last chapter. Thank you so much! **

**Sorry for the delay on an update, it's also a beast of a chapter and it takes time to write and be edited by both me and my beta, livingdeadblondegirl (who is amazing by the way). **

**I'm hoping you'll take this as a token of my gratitude for your patience and support. I think (hope) you're going to like this chapter. I'm nervous for you to read it, so please please let me know what you think!**

* * *

_He moved impatiently through the crowds of people all headed in the same direction as he had been. _

_Who would have thought the airport in Richmond would be this busy on a random Friday morning?_

_His flight had been delayed due to a freak late winter snow storm before he left New York. _

_He was certain he had made Caroline and Grayson wait more than an hour, even though he had called Caroline before he boarded his flight and told her he was going to be late. _

_Luckily, he wouldn't have to wait at the baggage claim as he was having his larger luggage shipped to him instead. It would cost less to ship it by ground than it would have if he checked it and had it flown with him. _

_He was also grateful that he had decided to dress in his suit this morning as opposed to changing when he landed. He wouldn't have the time now. _

_Even though their hearing was also conveniently located in Richmond, they still had to find the courthouse and meet up with Stefan beforehand. _

_It was nearly eleven already, he noted as he walked past a large digital clock. _

_Caroline was probably having a fit of anxiety by now, he concluded. _

_After he messaged Caroline to tell her that he was in the airport, he rubbed his hand over his mouth as he began to yawn. _

_He was most definitely tired. Going out the night before with Marcel had probably been a mistake in hindsight, even though it was relatively tame compared to some of their more adventurous nights out. As was usually the case, he had drank a little too much and was now suffering a minor hangover. He was going to be gone for six months though; he didn't want to bail on Marcel while he was still in the city. Especially since Marcel would be doing him a huge__ favour__ by holding down the fort while he was away. _

_When he lowered his arm, the material of his shirt rubbed against the sensitive skin on his chest and shoulder; the location of his tattoo. His tattoo was another reason he couldn't say no to Marcel last night; not only had Marcel gotten him in on such short notice with Galen, but he'd got him an amazing discount, too. _

_He was pleased with the tattoo. It really hadn't hurt that much, and it turned out the way he intended it to on paper. He hoped Henrik and Elijah would feel the same if they could see it. _

_If either of them were here, he could imagine both of them warning him not to let their mother or father see it. In addition to__ jewellery__, tattoos were another thing his father loathed. When Finn, their father's most prized son, decided to get a tattoo in college, Mikael demanded for months that he have it removed. He even offered to pay for the procedure. _

_Of course, there was nothing his father could do about him getting a tattoo now since he no longer lived by his rules, but he still expected a barrage of ridicule if Mikael ever did find out. _

_Caroline responded quickly to his text, telling him that she was waiting off to the right by the windows just outside of baggage claim. _

_Even when he had gotten home last night in the early hours of the morning, he couldn't sleep. He felt anxious and on edge in anticipation of today. _

_He still did. _

_While Stefan had explained to him that he and Caroline had nothing to worry about with respect to today's custody hearing, since Mikael and Esther couldn't do anything yet at this point, he still felt nervous. _

_What would the judge say? What would the judge think of them? Would they ask them any questions? What would happen if they refused to grant them temporary custody? These questions had plagued his mind constantly. _

_On top of that, he felt an unexplained jittery excitement. _

_This anxiety and excitement, coupled with his slight hangover, and the overdose of caffeine he consumed earlier in compensation for his cigarettes, were making his stomach turn. _

_He rode the escalator down into baggage claim and pushed his way through the waiting crowd of people that had already gathered to collect their luggage. _

_When he reached where he suspected Caroline would be, he glanced searchingly around the crowded area - full of people with the same idea - for any sight of her. _

_His eyes wandered over countless people and objects as he tried to locate her familiar golden blonde hair. _

_He was ready to text her again, when he heard her bubbly voice call out his name from behind him. _

"Klaus!" she said, her voice was nearly lost in the sea of people.

_Turning around, he noticed her waving at him a good thirty feet or more away. _

_She stood up from the bench, nudging the stroller she had brought aside with her foot as she held Grayson in her arms. _

_Both of them were dressed to play the part today as he was; Grayson was dressed handsomely in a pale blue sweater, with what looked like a matching plaid collared shirt underneath, and tiny jeans. He let his eyes fall over Caroline quickly and innocently, first noting the way her hair was bundled against the back of her neck and then admiring the way her figure was wrapped in a white collared blouse that fastened on the side and nearly revealed her shoulders. The blouse fell loosely over a black pencil skirt that was accented by her stocking-covered legs and black heels. She looked motherly and professional, but there was something about the outfit he found undeniably sexy. _

_He looked away bashfully, focusing back on Grayson, but unable to ignore the smile Caroline was flashing at him. _

_Without much effort, he found himself smiling back. A calm sense of satisfaction encircled him as he approached them._

* * *

_She decided to sit with Grayson by the windows and wait for Klaus in hopes that the sights outside would keep Grayson distracted. _

_They had already been here for over an hour. _

_Klaus had texted her earlier and said that his flight would be late, but she didn't expect him to be this late. _

_She glanced impatiently at all the clocks littered about the airport. If he didn't arrive soon, she was going to have to attend their court hearing without him. One of them had to be there. They couldn't miss it. It would make them look terrible if they did. It might ruin their chances for permanent custody before they even had the opportunity to prove themselves. _

_Despite Klaus's confirmation of his flight's departure, she couldn't hold back the anxiety she felt. _

_Her mind jumped from worst case scenario, to slightly worse ones, and then back again. She couldn't help it. _

_It was her first instinct to wonder if perhaps Klaus had decided not to return last minute; maybe Damon had been right about him getting cold feet. _

_Her next concern was Klaus's safety. The weather had been terrible in New York this morning apparently; what if something happened to the plane? _

_His plane was just delayed, she had assured herself. She had heard and seen that fact broadcast throughout the entire airport. _

_He would be here as he intended; it just might not be on time. _

_When she had finally received update that the flight had landed, she was relieved and more anxious all at once. _

_Relieved, because if he was on the plane that meant he was safe. Anxious, because she was about to find out if he really meant what he said about coming back. _

_She waited awhile longer with Grayson, trying to keep him entertained with a few toys. _

_Her phone went off with a message from Klaus. _

_She read it quickly. _

_He was in the airport. _

_Informing him where she was, her eyes began to scan the area for any sign of him. _

_More time past, causing the nervous energy inside her to grow. _

_When more people began to emerge from the baggage claim area, she watched for him closely. _

_She knew he hadn't checked any bags, so he wouldn't have to wait. He should be out any moment._

_That's when she thought she noticed him standing over by an airport information display. _

_His back was partially turned to her, but she could tell it was him well enough from his side profile, coupled with the carry-on bag of his she recognized. _

_He, too, was searching for them, and had his phone out; obviously ready to call or text her. _

"Klaus!" she said, hoping her voice carried well enough over the crowd that he would hear her.

_His head cocked around to face her, confirming that it was indeed Klaus she had called after and not a stranger. _

_He was here; he came back. _

_She exhaled sharply, finding herself more allayed and contended to see him than she anticipated she would be. _

_The fact that he was already dressed for court in his suit was an added relief. _

_When she caught herself admiring him in his suit - provoking memories thought forgotten - she abruptly raised her eyes and smiled at him as he began to approach. _

"Who's that, Grayson?" she said into Grayson's ear encouragingly, pointing at Klaus.

_Grayson looked at Klaus and babbled a bit as he got closer. _

"Hey," she said to him, freezing mid-way as she instinctively leaned in to greet him with a hug.

_Oh my god, what the hell was she doing? _

_To prevent things from becoming even more awkward, she followed through, brushing her free hand over his shoulder to give him a small hug with Grayson in between. _

_She clenched her eyes shut and cursed herself. It was habit, she told herself. She had been greeting people with hugs a lot lately. She and Elena used to hug all the time. _

_One of his hands touched her back as he bewilderedly reciprocated the hug. _

_There was a brief silence when they pulled apart, but Klaus quickly concentrated on Grayson. _

"Hey little guy," Klaus cooed, crouching slightly to be eye level with him. "How are the teeth, mate?" he wondered, looking at her for a moment before returning to Grayson.

"You can see one starting to come in on the bottom," she told him.

_Grayson babbled a bit as Klaus tried to get a look inside his mouth. _

"I guess he doesn't want to show me," he said after struggling for a moment to see.

_He stood up at regular height, backing away to return some of her personal space. _

"How was the flight?" she asked politely.

"Uneventful once it finally took off," he said. "Sorry, I'm late."

_She shrugged. _

"It's not your fault," she told him as Grayson shrieked in distress with outstretched arms towards Klaus.

_Grayson leaned out further, trying to struggle out of her grasp with feverish complaint. _

_She couldn't help but smirk at the sight. _

"I think someone wants to see you," she mused to Klaus.

_Klaus smiled a little apprehensively as he succumbed to Grayson's demand and took him from her. _

"You missed Klaus didn't you?" she murmured to Grayson, using her now free hand to smooth over his hair.

_Grayson made a noise that almost sounded like, 'yeah' causing both her and Klaus to chuckle. _

_She took a moment to marvel at the way Grayson seemed take to Klaus like glue to paper after a few days of separation. _

_Grayson's hands wandered over Klaus's face unapologetically. _

"My apartment was almost too quiet," Klaus commented to Grayson as he adjusted him on his hip.

_Was that Klaus's subtle way of confessing that he had missed Grayson while he was gone, she wondered. _

_As she took in the seemingly normal sight of Klaus and Grayson, she found herself also wondering whether Grayson was the only one who had missed him. _

"We should get going. Stefan is probably waiting for us," she said, clearing her throat.

* * *

_After they paid a ridiculous sum of money to park close to the intimidating building that was the courthouse, they entered hastily, searching for Stefan. It was nearly noon. _

_They found Stefan waiting for them in an expansive foyer outside of the courtroom their case was assigned to. _

_There were a few other people there as well, likely waiting for their own cases to be heard. _

"I was beginning to think you weren't going to show," Stefan said both critically and relieved as he stood up to greet them. "The judge might have turned this into a kidnapping case rather than a custody case," Stefan joked.

"Sorry," she winced.

"Traffic from the airport to here was a nightmare," Klaus explained as he set Grayson's carrier down and pulled him out.

_She nodded, confirming Klaus's story. _

"Not to mention finding somewhere to park," she lamented, setting Grayson's bag down on the bench Stefan had previously been sitting on.

"Well I guess all that matters is that you're here," Stefan conceded. "They haven't opened the room yet. There are several cases that are scheduled to be addressed ahead of ours, so depending on how long those take, we could be here awhile," he told them.

_She sighed and looked at Grayson worriedly wondering how he was going to hold up over the next couple of hours. If luck was on their side, perhaps he would sleep through the entire thing. She knew, however, that was probably wishful thinking. If this took more than a few hours, a feeding or a diaper change would be in order eventually. She just hoped the judge would be understanding and wouldn't count any disruptions as a strike against them. _

"That's ridiculous," Klaus muttered. "A six month old can't sit quietly in a courtroom for hours."

"I don't make the rules," Stefan shrugged apologetically.

_Klaus exchanged an anxious look with her. _

"So when our case is finally called up, will it be as straightforward as you say it will be?" she wondered, still not entirely convinced by Stefan's assuring words from the previous night.

"You guys don't have anything to worry about," Stefan reiterated. "We'll be waiting longer than it takes the judge to make a decision - a decision which will be in your favour. She's already read the submission and the copy of the will I provided. This is going to be painless. I will do all of the talking. You probably won't even have to speak to the judge directly," Stefan explained.

"What if we do?" Klaus asked, speaking her mind once more.

"Just speak honestly," Stefan urged.

"Do you think she'll ask us about our relationship to one another?" Klaus wondered, taking her off guard slightly.

_Stefan shook his head. _

"This is just a preliminary hearing to set up temporary guardianship. Those types of questions will come during your interviews with CPS. Like I said, if the judge refers to you directly, just speak honestly. You both have Grayson's best interest at heart. There shouldn't be a problem," Stefan told them.

_She had almost forgotten that they would have to endure visits from CPS over the next six months. If she wasn't already nervous about their court appearance, now she was stressing out about something else._

_Before she could dwell on all the personal and invasive questions she expected CPS would confront her and Klaus with, the doors to the courtroom were opened. _

"That's us," Stefan announced, picking up his briefcase from the bench and stepping ahead.

_She inhaled and exhaled sharply as she gathered up Grayson's bag and empty carrier. _

_Klaus waited behind for her, holding onto Grayson protectively, and looking just as anxious as she was, if not more so. _

"We're gonna be fine," she said, trying to reassure them both as she placed a quick kiss on Grayson's temple.

_They caught up to Stefan and entered the drab and formal room. _

_Stefan led them to a few open seats at the end of the aisle in the gallery where they would wait for their case to be called. _

_At least their seats would give them easy access to the exit if they needed it for Grayson, she supposed. _

_She sat closest to the aisle, while Klaus sat in between her and Stefan with Grayson. _

_Grayson was content for now, but she quickly reached into his bag and readied a few quiet toys to occupy him with just in case. She also confirmed the placement of the sterilized bottles she had brought and the ready-made formula. She had given him a bottle during the car ride from the airport to the courthouse, but depending on how long they would be made to wait, she fully expected his appetite to return. _

_After that, she ensured that her cell phone was on silent. There was a text from Bonnie wishing them luck and asking her to call when it was over, but she refrained from responding when the arrival of the judge was introduced. _

_They were all instructed to stand until the judge told them to be seated. _

_The judge was not who she was expecting her to be. First, she expected a male until Stefan had told them otherwise. Second, she was expecting a haggard old woman with graying hair. Instead, a petite, middle aged woman with auburn hair took the judge's bench. _

_An hour into their wait, only one case had been heard and they still had four more ahead of them before theirs would be addressed. _

_If these chairs had been more comfortable, she might have been tempted to take a nap. _

_She had been up early this morning in preparation of her drive with Grayson to Richmond, and she hadn't gotten much sleep the night before. _

_Struggling with anxiety over the custody hearing and picking up Klaus from the airport, it had taken her forever to fall asleep, and once she did, Grayson woke her up again for a nighttime feeding. Then, once he was satisfied and fell back to sleep, she had to fight with her mind a second time to achieve the same. _

_Yawning discreetly, she looked over at Klaus. Ironically, she was met with Grayson's closed eyes, nestled against Klaus's right shoulder. _

_Her immediate reaction was childish resentment, wishing that she could sleep as he was. Her second reaction was evidenced by the swelling in her chest at the sight of Grayson content with Klaus and Klaus seemingly content with Grayson. _

_She tensed when Klaus made eye contact with her, looking at her curiously. _

_Nodding towards Grayson - whose face was turned away from Klaus - she quietly mouthed to Klaus that he was asleep. _

_Klaus attempted to outstretch his head to catch a glimpse, but his movement prompted Grayson to stir, so he remained stationary. _

_She could only conclude that Klaus's arm would be sore if he intended to hold Grayson like that for any prolonged length of time. _

_In the midst of the second case, Klaus had relented and placed Grayson, as quietly and carefully as possible, into his carrier. _

_She watched with bated breath and sighed in relief when Grayson remained asleep. _

_Grayson managed to stay asleep through the rest of the second case, but woke, and started to get fussy by the end of the third. _

_Fortunately, before they had to resort to excusing themselves, the judge granted the court a brief recess. They had been in the room for nearly three hours by that point. _

_During the break, she took Grayson to be changed, while Klaus stayed behind with Stefan to prep Grayson a bottle for when they returned. _

_The bottle and diaper change seemed to be what Grayson was aiming for, and they returned to the courtroom with little issue. _

_She was surprised when the fourth case lasted less than twenty minutes, and as the fifth case was being called, she suddenly wasn't so eager anymore for the judge to address theirs next. _

_Mental lists of work she had to get done at the store were busy reading themselves out to her in her mind when the fourth case came to a close nearly forty minutes later. _

"Next case, the matter of Grayson James Mikaelson; index number zero five eight nine three dash six," the court clerk announced.

_She felt her legs go weak as Stefan urged them under his breath to stand. _

_Hastily, she stood up with Grayson, leaving Klaus to pick up the bag and carrier on the floor. _

_It felt like it took an hour to move from their chairs to the front of the courtroom as the judge waited for them expectantly. _

_When she and Klaus went to sit down, Stefan quickly shook his hand at them, beseeching them to remain standing. _

"Good afternoon, Your Honour," Stefan said respectfully, clearly trying to atone for their misstep.

_The judge nodded quietly, seemingly unimpressed, as she peered down at the papers in front of her. _

"Alright, I've read your submissions, along with the will, and given that you both were named as legal guardians, I see no need to countermand the parents' wishes," the judge began.

_She allowed herself to take a small breath. _

"However..."

_The judge was interrupted by the sound of Grayson's empty bottle hitting the table and rolling off onto the floor. _

_Grayson had been keeping himself occupied with the bottle since he had finished the formula contained inside. She winced, chastising herself for not having taken it from him before they faced the judge. _

_Both she and Klaus started to crouch down to retrieve it, but Stefan cleared his throat warningly, glaring at the two of them. _

_Her cheeks flushed red with embarrassment as she looked from Stefan to the judge and noticed the annoyed look on her face. _

"Sorry," she whispered meekly.

"Permanent custody is contingent upon a six month trial custody period, characterized by a series of unannounced visits and interviews to be conducted by Child Protective Services. These interviews will measure your suitability as permanent legal guardians. Should these interviews be successful, and should no other further issues arise, you will be granted permanent legal custody sixth months from now in a final hearing. Until that time, I am awarding you - Caroline Forbes and Niklaus Mikaelson - temporary legal custody of Grayson James Mikaelson," the judge announced as she struck the gavel down with finality.

_She sucked in a breath, still surprised by how quickly the judge addressed their case and overwhelmed by the fact that this was now legitimately happening. _

_This was completely and entirely real. She and Klaus were now Grayson's official caregivers - at least temporarily. _

_She noticed a similar stunned expression on Klaus's face before he knelt down to retrieve the bottle that Grayson had dropped. _

_Stefan thanked the judge to distract from Klaus, and she could have sworn she noticed the judge smile a little at Grayson who was now contented by his own fingers in his mouth. _

_With their case dismissed, she and Klaus followed Stefan out of the courtroom and back out into the foyer. _

"That's it?" Klaus said incredulously.

_Stefan nodded. _

"Yeah, that's it," Stefan acknowledged. "Unfortunately, we had to wait our turn and couldn't have the case addressed earlier," he sighed. "But you guys did it! You have temporary custody of Grayson; congratulations," he said happily, giving Klaus a triumphant pat on the back.

"We couldn't have done it without you," she added, knowing that they would have been completely lost without Stefan's help, something she was certain Mikael and Esther probably would have taken advantage of.

"Yeah thanks, mate," Klaus agreed, patting Stefan on the back now instead. "I'm almost afraid to ask what's next," he said hesitantly.

_Stefan chuckled lightly. _

"Well, you're going to spend the next six months here raising Grayson and living your lives as normally as possible. CPS will be making a few unannounced visits to check in during that time. They just want to ensure that Grayson is in a safe and nurturing environment. They'll probably want to take a look around the house a little; they'll probably ask you a few personal questions," Stefan explained.

"What types of questions?" she asked worriedly.

"There's not a set list. It's not something meant to be studied for. Just answer genuinely," Stefan urged. "They'll probably ask questions about Grayson's routine, your careers, your relationship, how you plan to raise Grayson together, hypothetical stuff. It would be good to think of these things in advance, but they could ask you anything," Stefan told them. "It's better not to stress out about it."

_She nodded. _

"What about my parents?" Klaus questioned.

"Your parents can't contest the arrangement until thirty days have passed from today. We only have to worry about them if they decide to formally contest. Again, this is something that you're better off not stressing out about now," Stefan lamented.

_Just the thought of Mikael and Esther wanting to contest the custody arrangement made her feel lightheaded and sick to her stomach. _

"Come on guys, don't look so glum," Stefan mused. "You have temporary custody of Grayson. You're on the right track. You should be celebrating," he concluded. "I'm supposed to be meeting up with Meredith for dinner - she signed up last minute for a workshop at the hospital here so we could spend the weekend in Richmond - you should join us," he encouraged.

_While the thought of going out for something to eat in the city sounded great - she hadn't eaten any lunch and her stomach was beginning to rumble - Grayson caused her to hesitate. _

_She hadn't planned on being here all afternoon, let alone past dinner. As a result, she was running low on packed supplies for Grayson. Moreover, he had barely slept all day due to the excitement and was sure to be tired. She didn't want to keep Grayson out any later than necessary. She herself didn't want to be out any later than necessary. She was exhausted, too. _

"As delicious as that sounds, I think we should probably get Grayson home," she told Stefan. "It's been a long day for him. By the time we get back to Mystic Falls, it will be his bed time."

She looked to Klaus for his opinion.

"It's been a long day for all of us, mate. Five o'clock came way too early this morning," Klaus agreed. "It will probably be my bedtime by the time we get back to Mystic Falls," he laughed.

_Stefan chuckled and nodded understandingly. _

"All right, no problem. We'll do it another time," Stefan accepted.

"Say hi to Meredith," she told him, "and have a good weekend."

"I will," Stefan said with a relaxed sigh. "You too. Good luck with Damon on Sunday," he teased.

_She laughed and rolled her eyes, as she noted Klaus give them a confused look. _

"Damon's moving into my place on Sunday," she informed him.

_He nodded absently and seemingly unenthused. _

"I'm sure Damon will be fine," she assured Stefan confidently.

_It was her first night alone with Klaus since everything had happened and that concerned her more than Damon Salvatore._

* * *

_When she opened her eyes, they were just entering Mystic Falls._

_She sat up, a little disoriented, and looked around the car. _

_The clock on the dash said it was just after six. _

_Klaus had offered to drive them back, and though she still offered to drive, knowing he was probably just as tired as she was, it didn't take much convincing for her to relent. _

_However, she hadn't expected to actually fall asleep when she closed her eyes. _

"Have a good nap?" Klaus wondered as she released a yawn.

_She nodded as her yawn turned into a laugh. _

"Sorry, I'm the worst driving companion, ever," she admitted. "I can't believe I fell asleep."

"Grayson, too," Klaus added. "I haven't heard a noise from him since we left Richmond."

_The house was darkened when they arrived with the sun setting. When she left this morning she had forgotten to leave a light on, believing that they would be home before dark anyways. _

_While Klaus retrieved his carry-on bag from the trunk of the car, she gathered up a sleepy Grayson from his car seat, along with his things. _

_Klaus was fumbling with the keychain at the backdoor as he tried to find the right key to unlock the door with. _

"It's that one," she said, nodding to a large silver key by his thumb.

"We need to get another key made. I don't have one," he said as he unlocked the door. "I realized that the hard way Monday night when I tried to get in," he mused.

_Monday night was the night he had spent with Vicki. He had tried to come back to the house. She hadn't been hearing things that night after all. _

"You should have just knocked," she said, following Klaus inside.

_She stood still with her hands full in the darkened kitchen while Klaus located the light switch. _

"I didn't want to wake anyone up," he shrugged, letting his bag rest on the floor. "You were already pissed with me enough as it was," he remarked amusedly.

_She laughed lightly as she set Grayson's bag and her purse on the table. Apparently they had both let go of the animosity they once felt towards one another after that night. _

"I was awake anyways," she said, faltering a little as she realized what she might have been implying to him.

_Things went deafeningly quiet for a few moments before she looked down at a half-asleep Grayson in her arms. _

"I think I'm gonna run upstairs and just put him to bed. He'll probably be up later for a bottle, but he seems pretty content to sleep now," she said readily.

"I can do it if you want?" Klaus offered.

"It's okay," she said politely. "I have him now, I might as well.

_He nodded and she started for the hallway before they were confronted by more penetrating silence. _

_After a fresh diaper and change of clothes, she spent a few minutes with Grayson in his nursery, rocking him gently in hopes that she could lull him back to sleep without a problem. The sooner he fell back to sleep, the sooner she could grab something to eat and fall back to sleep herself. _

_On this night in particular, it was difficult not to notice the framed baby pictures of Grayson alongside his parents. _

_She sighed at the sight of Elijah and Elena's smiling faces. _

_As much as she and Klaus had moved forward today in honouring their wishes, she also felt guilty. She felt like she and Klaus were replacing them for Grayson, that just by stepping up to take care of him in their place, they were betraying them. _

_She knew it was silly. Elijah and Elena were gone. Grayson needed someone to take care of him. This is what they wanted. _

_It was still a tough reality to face. _

_Elena and Elijah would always be Grayson's mother and father, but legally that was no longer the case. For all intents and purposes, she and Klaus were Grayson's parents now. _

_With another drawn out sigh, she lightly kissed the top of Grayson's head before lowering him into the crib. _

_He stirred a little when she put him down, but thankfully, he stayed asleep. _

"Goodnight, Grayson," she whispered softly.

_Ensuring the monitor was on she stepped out of the room as quietly as she could, though she was still wearing her shoes. _

_She returned downstairs with the other monitor, somewhat reluctantly. She wasn't sure why she was feeling so hesitant around Klaus, but she knew she was going to have to get over it if they were going to be living with one another for the next six months. _

"Ugh, that was such a long day," she groaned casually, removing her jacket as she re-entered the kitchen.

_Klaus already had the same idea as her, she concluded, noting his jacket and tie draped over one of the dining chairs. _

_She saw Klaus at the kitchen island from the corner of her eye as she walked by. The collar of his shirt was unbuttoned and his sleeves were rolled up to his elbows. _

_Klaus said nothing in response at her attempt to make casual conversation, so she leaned over and unbuckled the tiny ankle straps of her heels. _

_She kicked them off towards the back door with an exaggerated groan of contentment. _

"Those heels were a bad idea," she said aloud to herself, her hands immediately going for the equally painful bobby pins still securely fastened in her hair.

"Is Grayson asleep?" Klaus inquired.

"Fast asleep," she smiled.

_Staring at her reflection through the glare on the glass panes, she tore at the hair pins for a moment before Klaus's lack of response caught her attention. _

_She turned, hair pin in her mouth, to find Klaus staring at her. _

_His eyes immediately darted down to the food items splayed out in front of him. _

"What are you doing?" she asked him, just now noticing the variety of ingredients he seemed to be working with.

"Nothing," he stammered, as if he had been caught in the act doing something he shouldn't have been.

"The food?" she clarified.

_He laughed at their apparent miscommunication. _

"I'm making dinner...for us," he informed her. "I hope you don't mind, but I'm using the shrimp that were already defrosted in the fridge."

_She shrugged absently, still kind of stunned by this latest twist of events, as she removed the last of her hair pins and set them aside. _

"I don't mind," she said taken off guard as she inched her way to the counter to inspect the food more closely.

_Peering over the kitchen island, she watched quietly for a few moments as Klaus deveined a couple shrimp. _

_She hadn't planned on using the shrimp for anything special. She would have probably ended up eating it with rice. _

"What are you making?" she wondered curiously.

"Fettuccine Alfredo," he revealed.

_Her stomach complained hungrily in response and she coughed to cover up the noise. _

"But I like to add a lot of things," he trailed off, "shrimp, vegetables, a little spice," he listed.

_She was beyond starving now. _

_This was one of her favourite Italian dishes, but she hated making it - in fact, she didn't really like cooking much, period. So, the fact that Klaus surprisingly seemed to have a particular affinity for it could work to her benefit for the next six months. _

"I didn't know you could cook," she said casually.

_He shrugged. _

"There's a lot of things you don't know about me, Caroline Forbes," he mused.

_He looked at her briefly, flashing her a playful grin, before returning his concentration to the shrimp. _

_Her stomach clenched, but she shrugged it off with a lighthearted laugh. _

"Which is hilarious, since we're going to be raising Grayson together," she joked, "and CPS is going to be asking us a million questions."

"So, we may be doing things a little backwards, but we'll get to know one another," he said casually. "I prefer unconventional relationships...anyways," he said, faltering on the last part since it seemed he was suggesting something else. "Platonic relationships," he clarified.

"Well, if I know one thing about you, I'd say you strive for unconventionality in your romantic relationships too," she snorted, unable to resist the jab.

_Thankfully, he laughed. _

"I suppose you're right," he conceded.

_She was tempted to ask him about Vicki but she bit her tongue. _

"Though, that's not something CPS wants to hear you say about me," he chuckled.

"I'll tell them you're a good cook then," she concluded.

"You haven't even tasted it yet," he reminded her.

_She rolled her eyes with a scoff as she ignored the inexplicable way her body tensed. _

"I'm giving you the benefit of the doubt," she replied.

_He paused as he placed the deveined shrimp onto ice. _

"That's unusual," he said sarcastically, but still playfully enough that she found herself more amused than offended.

_She gave him a reluctant half-smile. _

"So, where did you learn to cook?" she asked, suddenly changing the subject.

_She could tell that he knew what she was trying to do, but he obliged her with a small grin, nonetheless. _

"Self-taught mostly. I've lived on my own for most of my adult life," he told her.

"So have I, but I'm not much of a fan of cooking," she pointed out.

_He smirked. _

"I used to help our nanny when I was younger," he said, "but mostly I just like creating things," he shrugged.

_Mention of his childhood and the fact that the Mikaelsons had a nanny when they were children intrigued her, but again, she refrained from asking him anything too heavy. _

"You didn't have to cook," she said guiltily.

"We both have to eat," he reminded her.

"I know," she said. "I just mean you didn't have to cook this. I would have been satisfied with grilled cheese sandwiches," she laughed.

_Discounting informal dinner parties, she couldn't remember the last time someone had cooked for her. It was probably her mother. _

_Tyler was always an expert at ordering in or having his parents' hired help cook them something, but he never cooked for her. The closest he came to cooking was suggesting they make late night grilled cheese sandwiches and then leaving the task up to her - which is probably why the food stuck out to her for better or for worse. _

"Well I guess I'm raising your standards then," he chuckled. "Besides, Stefan's right, we should be celebrating this, and if we can't go out, we'll celebrate here; and sorry love, but grilled cheese sandwiches aren't my idea of a victory meal," he told her.

"We were only awarded temporary custody," she reminded him cautiously.

"Since when did you become so pessimistic?" he countered.

"Since Mikael and Esther Mikaelson," she groaned.

_Klaus's expression narrowed. _

"You're letting them win," he stated. "Remember what I said? We're not going to lose Grayson," he assured her.

_She nodded, knowing he had a point. If she kept up this defeatist attitude, she would be letting them win. Just by letting them get to her, she was letting them win. _

"Okay fine, we'll celebrate," she relented, "but you can't celebrate without wine," she said, recalling the wine Elena and Elijah had in their cellar in the basement.

_If she was going to let Klaus cook her dinner and then share it with him afterwards, on top of living with him for the next six months, she knew alcohol would help ease her into it. It would reduce the apprehension she felt around him. _

_Before Klaus could agree or protest, she headed for the basement, returning with a bottle of pinot grigio after a few minutes of debate between it and a bottle of chardonnay. _

"Good choice," Klaus acknowledged as she recalled the location of the wine glasses.

"There were a lot of choices. Elena and Elijah practically have a wine store in their basement," she laughed.

"Elijah fancied himself as a sort of amateur wine connoisseur," Klaus chuckled, as she twisted off the cap and poured two glasses.

_She nudged a glass to him and he rested his knife on the counter to take a sip. _

_They both went quiet for a few moments, their talk of Elena and Elijah had dampened the mood and suddenly celebrating no longer seemed appropriate or tactful. _

"Should we even be doing this?" she wondered.

_Klaus stared pensively at his glass for a second. _

"It's what Elijah and Elena wanted. They would be happy for us. The last thing Elijah would ever want is for our parents to have custody of his son," Klaus concluded. "I think we can toast to that."

_Feeling reassured by his perspective, she raised her glass over the counter half-way. _

"To Grayson," she murmured.

_Klaus nodded and touched his glass against hers before they both took a drink. _

_She lowered her glass slowly and set it on the counter, staring blankly at the packaged pasta noodles and vegetables in front of her. _

_That awkward silence was beginning to creep in again, she realized as she took a quick second sip of her drink. _

"So are you sure you know what you're doing with dinner?" she wondered, hoping to return the humour back into the situation.

_Humour seemed to work well for them as a neutral ground. _

"You won't set off the smoke detectors, will you?" she smirked. "Grayson will surely wake up if you do."

_He looked at her with a defensive, but amused, glare. _

"I can manage, sweetheart," he said.

_She took another drink of wine. _

"Well can I at least help?" she offered, rounding the counter to stand beside him. "I feel kind of useless just watching you."

"You can dice up some of the vegetables if you want?" he suggested, moving the large cutting board closer to her and offering her a knife.

_She took the knife and looked at the bell peppers in front of her as Klaus was prepping to grate some parmesan cheese. _

_Suddenly, she felt self-conscious. She hated cutting peppers. They were so awkward and perplexing. She considered opting to cut the onions instead, but she didn't want Klaus to notice that she had intentionally skipped over the peppers. She also didn't want to tear up and ruin her makeup. _

_She drank some more wine before contemplating her first move with the knife in one hand and the pepper in the other. _

"What's the matter, love? Don't know how to cut them?" Klaus said teasingly.

"I never know the best way to cut them," she grumbled defensively. "The ribs and the seeds always end up everywhere."

_He laughed and her face flushed red. _

"It's not funny," she protested.

"Do you want me to show you?" he asked.

"Just tell me how to do it," she said determinedly.

_Klaus sighed in playful annoyance at her stubbornness. _

"Cut the top and the bottom off," he instructed before taking a drink from his wine glass.

_That was easy enough, she thought, taking the knife and slicing both ends off. _

"Then sit it upright and cut a vertical line down one side," he told her.

_She did that too with little effort. _

"And now you're going to open up the pepper, the skin side laying flat against the cutting board so you can slice away the ribs and the insides," he explained.

_Attempting to do what he told her, she put the pepper down and started to open it up before bringing the knife against the inside. _

_This is where she started to struggle. Her cut was either too shallow or too deep. _

_She let out a frustrated growl at her incompetency. _

"Okay, fine! Show me," she gave in.

_When he stepped behind her unexpectedly, her eyes widened and she sucked in a breath. _

"Hold the pepper like this," he demonstrated, stretching his hand out beside hers and placing it along the edges of the pepper.

_He withdrew his hand, still standing behind her, watching over her shoulder as she mimicked him. _

"That's it; now take the knife in the other hand and cut in slightly," he started, "Like this," his voice hit the side of her neck.

_She went completely still when one of his palms rested over her hand that was holding the pepper down, while the other griped the knife around her hand to guide her movements. _

_Her back was lightly touching his front and she fought to ignore the feeling, only to find herself so caught up in the sight of his slender but masculine fingers wrapped around hers and his bare forearms tensely against her own. _

_She hadn't even noticed that they had made a perfect cut into the vegetable. _

"There," he said, his voice fluttered once more against her neck, emulating the unwelcomed butterflies in her stomach.

_He pulled back suddenly and retreated to his spot beside her, leaving her to finish on her own what he had helped her start. _

_She avoided looking in his direction, but her eyes darted everywhere else in the room in response to her mind's disorientation. _

_To regain her bearings, she inhaled another sharp breath, but all that did was give her senses an intoxicating serving of his citrusy cologne. _

_A tremor of shivers rushed down her back. _

_What the hell had just happened?_

* * *

_With the noodles still cooking, he added the steamed vegetables to the sauce, stirring gently as Caroline cleaned up their prep mess. _

_Their conversation had been intermittent since his lesson on cutting a bell pepper had become more suggestive than he anticipated it would. _

_It hadn't been his intention but it quickly became something more. _

_He felt the shift in the mood, which is why he stepped back; and if Caroline's subtle but tense reaction was any indication, she felt the mood shift too. _

_It frustrated him to know that she still had that effect on him, that a seemingly innocent moment could ignite such a flurry excitement inside of him. _

_He had been having a lot of those experiences with her lately; the text message was the foremost example, but there was also the way his eyes seemed hopelessly drawn to her. _

_She had nearly caught him in the act earlier. He had found himself watching her as she inoffensively removed her jacket and heels before letting the loose curls of her hair down in front of him. He found the entire sight too mesmerizing to look away. _

_Even now, he couldn't stop himself from following her around the kitchen from the corner of his eye, or stop himself from picking up the spring-like scent of her perfume through the thick aroma of what he was cooking. _

_She was gorgeous, and her somewhat dishevelled appearance made her all the more enticing to him. _

_While it was his continued attraction to her that frustrated him, it was the fact that he knew there was a kernel of truth to Marcel's words that terrified him. _

_He was slowly beginning to realize that his attraction to Caroline Forbes ran a little deeper than a fleeting physical crush. He did feel something for her, but he wasn't exactly sure what that entailed, nor was he sure how to respond. _

_The timer on the stove he had set to remind himself about the noodles went off, snatching him away from his thoughts. _

"Thank god, I'm starving," Caroline announced, grabbing for plates and utensils to set the table with.

_He drained the noodles and brought them over to the table along with the sauce. _

_Caroline eagerly started to help herself as he took the seat across from her. _

_He hadn't even gotten the chance to put the fettuccine noodles on his plate before Caroline erupted with a contented sigh. _

_The sound startled him. Apparently, food was akin to sex for women. _

"Oh my god," she groaned. "This is so good."

_He smiled as he dished out some noodles for himself and then the sauce. _

"I'm glad you like it," he mused.

"I love it," she said, taking another mouthful. "I volunteer you to be the cook."

"We should probably talk about a routine, or a schedule in terms of taking care of Grayson and the house anyways," he suggested before finally taking a bite of his pasta.

_Caroline seemed a little surprised by his proactive suggestion at first. _

"What's your work schedule like?" he asked her.

_She shrugged a little. _

"The store is closed Sunday, but it's not uncommon for me to be there seven days a week," she informed him.

_The fact that she spent the majority of her time at her store didn't really surprise him. _

"But I talked to the hospital daycare yesterday!" she exclaimed. "They're going to let Grayson continue attending daycare there for free."

"Wow, that's good news," he said.

"It's only three days a week though, Tuesday through Thursday. That's when Elijah and Elena took him," she explained.

"We'll I'll be here the other days," he said, realizing that meant he would be on his own with Grayson for the whole day very soon.

_Caroline looked at him with uncertainty. _

"Are you sure? I can probably get around going in every weekend, but I have to be there Monday and Fridays," she said. "It's not ideal, but I can take Grayson to the store if I have to," she added.

_He shook his head. _

"It's not like I'm doing anything else at the moment," he reminded her. "I'll be here."

_She nodded with her mouth full. _

"What about taking care of Grayson otherwise - when I'm not at work, and free time?" she wondered.

"Any suggestions?" he asked, unsure how they should go about ensuring that the arrangement was fair.

_She thought about it for a second. _

"I think we should approach this like we're Grayson's parents, not his babysitters," she proposed. "If one of us wants to go out, we need to check-in with the other person beforehand. I'm not saying we have to tell each other what we're doing and where we're going, but I think it's reasonable that we confirm ahead of time and let each other know when we'll be back. Plus, we should always be reachable in case of an emergency," she clarified.

"That sounds fair," he agreed. "What about taking care of Grayson?"

"We share responsibilities like parents. I don't think we need to keep score of who's doing what. Chores are another matter though. We'll have to come up with a rotating schedule or something, because there is no way I'm cleaning the bathroom every week," she laughed.

_He chuckled and nodded in agreement. The whole idea of arranging a schedule like this and assigning tasks and responsibilities was entirely foreign to him. It would be something else to get used to. _

"You know Damon isn't exactly the best housekeeper," he commented as they continued to eat, referring to the fact that Damon would be living in her apartment.

_She looked up at him curiously. _

"When Damon leaves, I'll probably just hire someone to come in and do a thorough clean," she shrugged. "It's not a big deal."

"Did he say how long he would be staying?" he wondered, hoping it wouldn't be long.

"A month or two, just until the hospital can find a replacement for Elijah," she stated, still eyeing him suspiciously. "You really don't like Damon very much, do you?" she inquired.

_He tensed. _

"Our personalities just clash. Don't let the charming persona fool you, sweetheart. Damon Salvatore is bad news," he warned.

"He's just moving into my apartment while I'm here. It's not like we're dating," she said defensively.

"Just be careful," he told her seriously, leaving Caroline a little dumbfounded.

_They ate in silence awhile longer until Caroline spoke up. _

"Damon told me the story behind how you and Stefan became friends," she smirked, "you bullying him and pushing him in the lake," she chuckled.

_Of course, Damon would tell her any story to cast him in a bad light. _

_He laughed though, thinking back to his days as a child at summer camp with his older siblings. _

"I did that," he admitted. "I was pissed because I didn't want to be grouped with the younger kids, so I bullied them a little. Stefan and I ended up becoming best friends by the end of it, though," he added.

"Damon said that," she smiled. "It's a cute story."

_He was about to ask what else Damon had told her about him, but the house phone rang, signalling a long distance call. _

"I'll get it," Caroline offered, pushing her chair back hurriedly to receive the call before Grayson heard the sound.

_He listened as he opted to finish the final bites of his meal and his second glass of wine. _

"Hey Bonnie," Caroline greeted. "I must have left my cell phone on silent," she explained. "Everything went fine today. Klaus's flight was delayed but we still made it on time. We just got home awhile ago. We got temporary custody," she informed her friend.

_Calling Kol to inform him of the news crossed his mind, but he was sure Bonnie would pass along the details to him. _

"Grayson's asleep. We're just eating. Klaus cooked," Caroline said into the phone amusedly. "Fettuccine Alfredo...and it's really good," she responded to Bonnie.

_Judging by the nature of the conversation, he knew Bonnie was likely onto him given their talk in the cab the other night. _

"You don't have to let me go. I can warm up the rest in the microwave," he heard Caroline say to Bonnie. "All right fine, thanks for calling. I'll call you tomorrow," Caroline relented.

_She hung up the phone and returned to the table to finish the rest of her pasta. _

"Bonnie just wanted to know how today went," she informed him.

_He nodded. _

"I was going to call Kol, but I figure Bonnie will let him know," he shrugged, sitting back in front of his empty plate, deciding to pour himself another glass of wine.

"She was just getting ready to Skype with Kol before he headed to bed," she affirmed as he offered to refill her wine glass.

_He scrunched up his face. _

"I do not need to know about my brother's digital sex life," he declared.

_She laughed into her now full glass of wine. _

"They don't always do that," Caroline groaned. "Sometimes they just talk."

"Sometimes?" he rolled his eyes amusedly.

"It's cute," she protested. "I didn't like them together at first, but now I do," she explained.

"Why not at first?" he questioned.

_She paused for a moment, clearly thinking over her response as she finished chewing her food. _

"I just thought the long distance thing wouldn't work...and I thought Kol was a bit of an ass, no offense; I didn't want Bonnie to get hurt," she admitted. "But they're totally in love; it's endearing."

"Love is fleeting," he sighed warningly, standing up from his chair and taking both of their plates.

_He heard Caroline scowl as he approached the counter with the dishes. _

"Wow, you really aren't a romantic, are you?" she said, standing to gather up more of the dishes. "Everything in life is fleeting; life itself is fleeting," she sighed, clearly referring to Elijah and Elena. "Should we not live because of that?" she wondered, setting dishes on the counter beside his.

"I just meant that it was still possible for either of them to get hurt," he pointed out realistically as she turned on the tap and began to fill the sink.

_He handed her the pasta stained dishes that would need to soak before they left them in the dishwasher. _

"Sure," she acknowledged. "But if they thought like you, they probably wouldn't be together in the first place," she countered.

_She began to pass him back some of the rinsed dishes so he could begin to load the dishwasher. _

"Most prefer to focus on how love makes you feel safe, as opposed vulnerable," she stated turning to glance at him behind her as she handed him another plate.

_His stomach flipped uncomfortably and he increased the distance between them, opting to fill the dishwasher from the other side. _

"I just think it's good to have realistic expectations," he shrugged, garnering another small scoff from Caroline.

_They carried on silently with their kitchen duties after that awkward topic of conversation until they were distracted by crackling from Grayson's baby monitor. _

_Caroline frowned as she listened._

"Please don't wake up," she murmured.

_He closed the dishwasher quietly, as though that would have an impact on whether or not Grayson woke. _

_They both stood there for a few minutes, listening any more noise. When none came, they both broke into relieved smiles. _

"Thank god," Caroline declared as she let the water in the sink drain.

_Once everything was cleaned up, he watched as Caroline retreated to the family room with her wine glass and the bottle. _

_She fell back on the couch with a relaxed sigh. _

_He debated for a moment about joining her, but he quickly found himself picking up his own glass of wine and entering the family room. _

"So how was Grayson for you yesterday?" he asked curiously, taking a seat on the end of the couch opposite hers.

"He was a lot better. More of his angelic-self," she revealed. "He slept good the night before and when I brought him to the store Thursday, I just ensured we were well equipped with things to keep him content. April and Camille kept him occupied as well. He got a little agitated before his afternoon nap, but I think that had more to do with him being tired. It worked out better than Wednesday. I got a lot of work done," she explained.

_Her eyes widened. _

"Which reminds me, I need to go into the store tomorrow to put the final touches on a wedding dress alteration. Can you be here with Grayson? I have to get it done by tomorrow afternoon, or the bride is not going to be happy and I will screw myself out of making any money on this dress," she complained, taking a long drink of wine.

"Yeah, I can be here," he agreed, somewhat reluctantly, realizing that being on his own with Grayson for an extended period of time was going to come sooner than he thought.

"Thank you," Caroline said appreciatively. "You'll be fine with Grayson. Just keep him busy, and if his gums start to bother him there's cold food for him in the fridge, or give him a toy to chew on," she assured him.

_Talk of Grayson teething, reminded him of the stops he had made in New York. _

_He climbed off the sofa for his suitcase that was still sitting by the backdoor. _

"I got something for Grayson and you while I was away. I completely forgot," he said absently as he rummaged through his bag for the items.

"You got something for us?" Caroline said from the family room, peering over the sofa into the dining room.

_He pulled out the retail bag from his suitcase and returned to the sofa. _

"Well I got something for Grayson, and then I thought I'd better pick you up something to be fair," he laughed, garnering a cautiously amused look from Caroline.

_He handed Caroline the bag, and she pulled Grayson's items out first. _

"The woman at the store told me these were good for teething," he explained. "Sophie the Giraffe is like crack for teething babies, apparently," he laughed.

_Caroline laughed and looked pleased as she examined the boxed giraffe. _

"I read about this online," she said enthusiastically. "Is it bad if I want to wake Grayson up to try it?" she joked.

"If you want to deal with getting him back to sleep, be my guest," he chuckled as he took the toy from her so she could take a look at the second one.

"Those are teething feeders. You put cold fruit and stuff in it for them to nibble on," he told her.

"I saw these, too!" she exclaimed. "I was going to pick some up yesterday after work, but I didn't get a chance. I bet Grayson is going to love it," she concluded, reaching into the bag for her item.

_It wasn't much, but he noticed it on a magazine stand near his studio on his walk to the subway and decided to pick it up for her. _

"I figured you might want something to read during the free time I owe you," he shrugged as he waited for Caroline's reaction.

"You can't get this here!" she beamed.

_He vaguely remembered the salesman saying something along those lines when he asked him which one would be best. _

"This is one of the most prestigious quarterly dress magazines out of France. They only produce hardcopies and New York is one of the only cities outside of the country to get translated copies," Caroline explained excitedly.

_He assumed her elation was a good sign that he hadn't picked out some mediocre fashion magazine that detailed last years' trends. _

"You got this in Chelsea, didn't you? That's the only place I could ever find them when I lived there," she concluded.

_He nodded; he was amused that she could pinpoint its exact location. _

"That's where my studio is," he told her.

_She seemed impressed. _

"Now I'm really surprised we never crossed paths when I lived there. You must pay an arm and a leg to lease there," she commented.

"It's not cheap by any means, but I'm living in Brooklyn to afford it and my friend Marcel shares the lease. The location is important even if we don't get a lot of space for our money," he said.

"When we visit New York sometime with Grayson, you'll have to show me," Caroline suggested interestedly.

"Of course," he agreed.

_She peered down at the magazine and ran her hand over the glossy cover. _

"Thanks for the magazine. I missed getting the chance to read it," she sighed, setting it and Grayson's toys aside in favour of her wine glass.

"Do you ever miss New York?" he wondered.

_She seemed surprised by his question as she swallowed down her wine and contemplated a response. _

"I do," she admitted. "I miss living with Bonnie. I miss the excitement, the possibility," she described. "I loved it there."

_Her enthusiasm for the city they had both called home at one point or another perplexed him. _

"Why did you move back to Mystic Falls then?" he questioned.

_Something had obviously happened to drive her out of the city or pull her back home and he assumed it had to do with the death of her mother. _

_The expression on her face fell and he knew his question hit a sore spot. _

_He was about to retract his question when she spoke. _

"My mom; I moved back here because of my mom...mostly," she revealed confirming his suspicion.

"You don't have to talk about it," he said guiltily.

_She shrugged. _

"I figure I owe you an explanation after Monday at the cemetery," she said.

_He remained quiet waiting for her to continue. _

"I had just graduated school and was getting ready to start an internship with a prominent New York dress designer, Rory Quinn, in the fall, and then my mom got sick," she said as though it was a simple fact.

_She stared at her wine glass blankly. _

"She had breast cancer. It was inoperable. I took her to her treatments, I made sure she took all her medications and ate properly, I bathed her when she was too weak; I did everything for her," she said plainly. "The first round of treatments failed and she was supposed to start a new round that January...but she died in her sleep just before Christmas," she stammered, wiping a stray tear from her eye.

_He shifted uncomfortably as he struggled to think of something to say that might make her feel better. _

"After what happened with Tyler that spring and then my mom, I felt tired, I was confused, depressed; things just felt out of control. With my mom gone, and my dad god knows where, Mystic Falls was the only family I had left. I felt safe here. I felt close to my mom here. Elena was here. So, I stayed," she reasoned.

_Caroline's mention of her father provoked his curiosity on the issue and before he could censor himself he asked. _

"Your father..."

"He left before I was a teenager. He came out to my mom. He'd been leading a double life with some guy in California - hence, why he was always there on business. Whether he felt ashamed, or didn't think his new life would mesh well with his old one, he left town and I haven't seen him since. The last I heard from him was the final child support payment he sent before he was no longer legally required to pay. I don't know where he lives; I don't even know if he's still alive," she scoffed.

_She went quiet as she refilled her glass. _

_Apparently there was a lot about Caroline Forbes he didn't know. _

"I'm sorry about your father...your mom," he murmured, unsure of what else to say.

"Don't be," she whispered, her watery blue eyes looking up in his direction. "It's in the past," she said simply.

_He nodded, relating to her point of view. He should have known better than to say he was sorry. He hated when people said that to him. _

_She handed him the bottle of wine encouragingly. _

_He poured himself another glass, nearly emptying the bottle, debating whether or not to make an attempt to empathize with her. _

"My brother Henrik died of leukemia just after his thirteenth birthday," he confided in her. "I don't know if Elijah or Elena ever told you..."

_She shook her head. _

"No," she breathed.

_He took a long sip of wine. _

"We were close. I looked out for him and he looked up to me. I was with him when he died. I know what it's like to watch someone go through something like that," he explained. "Henrik's illness is what prompted Elijah to commit to medical school. It's one of the reasons I finally decided to leave Mystic Falls and go to New York. Henrik wanted me to pursue my art. It was a passion we shared."

_Caroline sat there quietly, looking overwhelmed by their tragic commonality. _

"You've lost a lot," she acknowledged.

"So have you," he reminded her.

"Still, I can't imagine what it would be like to lose two siblings you were so close to. I think I might have been a little insensitive to that over the past week."

"No more than I you," he shrugged. "Elena was a sister to you; she was your family."

_She nodded in agreement. _

"I still can't believe they're gone," she said, as though not only referring to Elijah and Elena, but everyone they had lost.

_He found himself placing his hand over hers resting in between them. _

"It never will be believable," he replied.

_She looked down at his hand and slipped hers out from underneath warily, occupying herself with her wine glass. _

_He followed suit. _

"Let's not talk about it anymore," she suggested. "Tell me about New York. How was it? Did you get done what you had to?" she asked, craftily shifting the subject of the conversation.

_Of course, he would oblige her request for a change in topic. He didn't want to talk about the reality of mortality anymore than she did. _

"I finished the paintings I needed to, so that was a relief," he humoured her.

"Did you take any pictures?" she asked. "I've never seen your work before."

_He fished his phone out of his pocket and went into the pictures folder, placing it on one of the paintings. _

_She took the phone readily. _

"They were commissioned pieces, so I was kind of working off of someone else's inspiration," he explained self-consciously as she glanced at his phone.

"Wow, this is really cool," she observed. "Sorry, I don't know the artsy lingo," she laughed, flipping to the next one. "Maybe I should get you to paint me something for my apartment, since the last time you were here you said it was lacking art," she snickered.

_Her eyes widened as she stared down at the screen. _

"Oh my god! What's this?! Did you get a tattoo?" she questioned, flashing the phone in front of his face as he reached for it.

_It was a picture Galen had taken of his tattoo just after he had it done. He was a little out of it in lieu of the slight pain and Marcel was beside him__,__ mocking him by holding his hand and laughing hysterically. _

_He smirked at the picture on the phone before noticing Caroline waiting for an answer expectantly. _

"Yeah actually, I did. Wednesday night after I talked you on the phone Marcel took me to his friend's tattoo parlour. I've been wanting to get it for a while. With everything going on today, I almost forgot I had it done," he said honestly, brushing his hand over the shirt covered spot where it was located.

"Let me see it!" she demanded curiously, sitting on her knees and facing him, wine glass in hand.

_Her interest in his tattoo amused him. _

_Obliging her once more, he unbuttoned his shirt, realizing only once it was unbuttoned, the uncomfortable situation he had put them in. _

_He pushed the collar aside allowing his shirt to hang loosely off his left shoulder, revealing his tattoo. _

"This is it," he said, swallowing hard as he noticed her eyes roam over his exposed torso.

_She leaned in to examine it and he felt his body go completely rigid. _

"Birds of a feather," she deciphered. "Any significance?"

"Henrik started drawing it before he died. I found it the other night when I was packing my things. I'd always intended to finish it and have a tattoo done of it. To Henrik it meant family and always being connected," he explained. "It seemed fitting to get it now with everything that's happened," he told her.

"It looks good," she smiled. "Did it hurt?"

"I'd be lying if I said it didn't hurt a little," he nodded.

"I've always wanted to get a tattoo, but I'm scared of how much it will hurt," she admitted wincing a little.

_He shook his head. _

"It wasn't as painful as I expected it to be," he told her.

_She snorted. _

"Is that Marcel in the photo holding your hand?" she teased.

"That would be Marcel," he answered. "But he was only holding my hand in the picture to make fun of me," he stated.

_Caroline rolled her eyes. _

"Sure," she chuckled as they both sipped some more wine. "How long have you known each other?"

_He thought back to when he had met Marcel. _

"Pretty much since I set foot in New York; I can't recall Marcel not being around. I think we met at a street art display. We went for drinks at the pub late that night and we've been together ever since," he told her.

"Do all your relationships begin in a pub?" she smirked teasingly.

_The alcohol in his system prevented him from responding with anything but amused laughter. _

_He shrugged innocently. _

"So what kind of tattoo were you thinking of getting?" he inquired, trying diligently to maintain casual and friendly conversation with her.

_She stood up on her knees beside him on the sofa. _

"My mom was a huge flower lover. I've always wanted to get a flowered vine along my rib cage," she revealed, running her hand along her shoulder, down her back, and then under her arm along the side of her torso.

_His breathing hitched as he watched her hand caress the upper-half of her body in demonstration. He couldn't help but imagine a naked Caroline with a tattoo along one of the parts of her body he found most appealing. He thought about trailing his hand over the design and running his tongue and lips along the edges. _

_Looking up at the ceiling, he tried his best to rid his provocative thoughts of her from his mind as she sat back down. He felt his head spin a little, but he wasn't sure if it was because he was drunk off lust or wine. _

_She had been so concerned earlier that his cooking skills - or lack thereof - would set off the smoke detectors, but he was convinced she was about to set them off for an entirely different reason. _

"Maybe you can sketch me an idea sometime?" Caroline suggested, snapping his attention back to her.

"Yeah, sure," he agreed, clarifying to himself that she had not requested him to sketch her, but rather a tattoo idea.

_She glanced at him again, looking at him with one of those intense gazes that seemed to pull him in and suck the wind right out of him. _

_Her eyes lowered back to his chest and his eyes couldn't help but do the same; the cut of her blouse saw to it that the curves of her cleavage were tauntingly revealed to him as she leaned in slightly. Her movement startled him and he held his breath in response. _

_He wasn't expecting her to brush her hand against the necklace he had been wearing. _

"Is this new?" she asked, curling her fingers around the tiny beads innocently - or so she thought. "I haven't seen you wear it before."

_He cleared his throat and nodded. _

"It's something else I found when I was packing. Henrik made it for me," he told her, trying his best to control his anxious breaths as he felt her knuckles skim over his collar bone.

"I like it on you," she said, as though her confession was some sort of secret to be kept.

_He inhaled sharply as his rational thoughts began to grow foggy with every hypnotic movement of her lips; her lips he longed to kiss. _

_His desperate desires must have played out like an open book across his face as she suddenly dropped the jewellery and backed away, standing up off the couch, and looking around the room bewilderedly. _

_In an instant, they were both brought back down to reality. _

"It's getting late," she observed. "I should probably go to bed. I have to wake up early tomorrow to be at the store," she explained. "The last thing I need is to go in with a hangover," she stammered with a half-smile, nodding towards her nearly empty glass of wine.

"Yeah," he said, still a little disoriented by magnetic energy exchanged between them.

_Had she felt it, too?_

* * *

**A/N: So what did you think? ;D **

**I know I've gotten in the habit of giving you spoilers for the next chapter at the end of each current update, but this story is at a bit of a crossroads. Up until this chapter, I had everything planned (I just needed to fill in the details) Now, I'm a little directionless and need to spend some time at the drawing board with my beta planning how to get from this point to the next set of events that I have planned. Please bear with me. I'm not sure how quickly another update will come. Feel free to leave me your hopes and dreams and everything you want in life with regards to this story. It could help! :D **

**Don't worry though, there's plenty more where this chapter came from. **


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N: This isn't exactly the entirety of the update that I promised, but it is an update, nonetheless. I apologize for the delay, but like I said, I needed to take some time to get some ideas organized and make plans for the upcoming chapters. **

**This is kind of a filler chapter, a 10,000 word filler chapter, but things do happen. **

**I thought you'd prefer an update rather than waiting, and I thought including everything from the second half would make it way to long. **

**Anyways, a big thank you to my beta, livingdeadblondegirl, for encouraging me with ideas and helping me develop new ones. She's a big reason why this chapter got written, even if it took awhile. **

**I hope you guys enjoy it. If you have a spare moment, I'd love to know what you think, so feel free to leave a review.**

* * *

_The alarm on her phone complained annoyingly on the nightstand beside her ear. She reached over, with her eyes still closed, and turned the phone off with a long groan. The fact that the room was still dark made it all too tempting to roll over and remain in bed. _

_This was her routine now though, and if she wanted to stay ahead of schedule, she needed to remove herself from the comfort of the blankets and pillows. _

_She pushed herself off the mattress and rubbed her eyes, seeing to it that she was completely awake. _

_A month ago, she never would have dreamed of getting up this early every morning; not that she wasn't somewhat of a morning person before - she was - but not this early of a morning person. _

_Though she went to bed at a decent hour at night to accommodate for the early wake up call, there was still something seemingly inhumane about waking up before the sun had barely begun to rise. _

_This is what it meant to have a seven month old baby, a full-time job, a house to maintain, and herself to look after on top of it all. _

_Some mornings Grayson was awake before her alarm, other mornings, like this one, he was still asleep, and she revelled in the opportunity. _

_Getting up at this hour seemed cruel, but she had also come to find that she could get a lot done before she went in to work, providing Grayson was cooperative. _

_She changed into a zippered sweatshirt and yoga pants in preparation for her morning run once Klaus was awake, before gathering up her growing pile of laundry to take downstairs to get started. _

_After making a stop in the kitchen to turn on the coffee maker, she retreated downstairs to the basement with the baby monitor. _

_Having carried piles of laundry up and down these stairs on numerous occasions for the past two weeks, she fully sympathized with Elijah and Elena's plan to renovate and move the laundry upstairs. _

_She loaded the machine and rushed back upstairs enthusiastically for coffee. _

_After her coffee was ready, she returned to the basement to hand-wash a few of her delicate items while she waited for the laundry._

_Laundry was a chore she and Klaus both did. She did hers. He did his. As for Grayson's, it was basically assigned to whoever had the time to do it first - which was often Klaus. _

_She was in the middle of rinsing out her clothes in the sink when Grayson's little whimpers could be heard coming from the monitor. _

_Sighing, she quickly draped her wet clothes over the edge of the sink and sprinted up both flights of stairs to Grayson's room. _

_Though Klaus had a monitor in his room for over-night wakeups, she was in charge of Grayson's morning wakeup routine. Klaus still had another half-hour of sleep. She didn't want to disturb him. _

_Grayson was sitting up wide awake in his crib. _

"Morning, monkey," she whispered enthusiastically to him after turning off the monitor in his room.

_Most of the nicknames she had employed casually with Grayson before Elijah and Elena's accident had now entered steady rotation. _

_He smiled at her and she couldn't help but smile back, even though she was in no mood to change the diaper she could already smell from across the room. _

_She considered herself a pro at changing diapers now. She had bragging rights on Klaus for fastest diaper change - a record Klaus was always trying to surpass. _

_After changing Grayson's diaper, she dressed him in a comfortable onesie for his day with Klaus. She was sure that by the time she came home tonight, Grayson would be rolling around in a new outfit or just his diaper. He always seemed to get into more messes when he was alone with Klaus, which is probably why Klaus had also become Grayson's primary bath time buddy and launderer. _

_She took him downstairs to prepare his breakfast bottle. _

_Once his bottle was ready, she took him into the family room and cuddled with him in her lap. This is what they did every morning. They watched morning television together while he sucked on his bottle and she sipped eagerly from her coffee. _

_It was a Friday, so they could spend a little more time relaxing since she didn't need to have him ready for daycare, nor did she need to drive him there. _

_A little while later, she could hear Klaus awake upstairs in the bathroom; the shower was running. _

_With Grayson in his playpen, she tended to some of the dishes and put a fresh pot of coffee on while she waited for Klaus. She always put a fresh pot of coffee on for him before he came downstairs because he fared worse with early mornings than she did, and would often drink his way through a pot on his own, depending on the morning. _

_He came downstairs as he usually did, heading straight for the coffee, groggy despite his shower, and dressed comfortably in sweatpants. _

_That was another thing she had yet to get used to: sharing space with a half-naked man. _

_While she was confident that they could make this work platonically, that she had sufficiently moved past their tryst over the last year to prevent a slip up, her eyes always seemed to do an involuntary second take of the damp curls of his hair and his masculine torso. _

_Secretly, she didn't mind the sight. Outwardly, she had openly expressed her mocking disdain._

_Why did he feel entitled to walk around the house without his shirt on? Why did any man for that matter? This was a shared space and it annoyed her. She didn't need to see his bare flesh practically every morning, no matter how pleasant she might have found the sight; the woes of having a male roommate. _

"Someone forgot a shirt again," she groaned_. _

_Klaus snickered at the ongoing banter between them on the subject. _

"You're more than welcome to walk around the house without a shirt on, love. I have no objections," he joked, as he set his coffee mug down and headed for Grayson in the family room.

_She scowled. _

"I have to do laundry," Klaus explained as he picked Grayson up out of his playpen.

_Klaus's mention of laundry reminded her of the finished load that was probably waiting to go into the dryer. _

"I need to put mine in the dryer and then I'm going out for my run," she announced.

_Once she had dealt with the laundry, she was able to make her escape from the house. _

_It had been unusually mild out for the beginning of April, so all she wore overtop of her clothes was a thin sweater. It was chilly at first, but she knew she would be sweating once she was finished. _

_She looked forward to these runs, and had somehow managed to work them back into her even more hectic schedule. They relieved her stress, and gave her time to be alone and think. She was aiming for a run at least three times a week, although that wasn't always possible, and even when it was, they were sometimes reduced to a simple walk or jog depending on her levels of enthusiasm and exhaustion. _

_Klaus, she had come to discover, also ran for exercise. Since they had Grayson, she ran in the morning, while he would go out once Grayson was asleep at night. _

_She took care of Grayson's morning routine, while Klaus handled his evening routine. On days Grayson went to daycare, she dropped him off, and Klaus picked him up. It worked out well considering she was often at the store well after Grayson was scheduled to finish daycare in the afternoon. _

_Things had actually been working out better than she expected they would with Klaus. Despite an awkward moment or two, they were getting along well. Klaus was pulling his weight and had been considerate of her the past few times he had gone out. _

_Most importantly, he had taken to Grayson so well, and Grayson had done the same. In fact, they almost seemed inseparable at times. Admittedly, she suspected amusedly that Grayson might like Klaus more than her. _

_Ultimately, the true indication of whether or not things were working out, was whether or not Grayson was happy, and despite the usual baby breakdowns, she felt confident in concluding that he was. _

_It was bittersweet for her. She wanted Grayson to be content with them, but it pained her to know that with every passing day, any memories Grayson had of his parents were fading. While she and Klaus were still mourning, Grayson seemed entirely unaware. Often she wondered what he knew or could feel with respect to the loss of his parents. Perhaps he was in pain? She would obsess over that question constantly, frustrated that he was too young to verbalize what he was feeling. _

_Depending on how much time she had for her run, she would often pass the house she grew up in for the sake of nostalgia. Sometimes she found it comforting, other times, it made her sad. Today, was a combination of the two. Memories of Christmas mornings and birthday parties were contrasted with recollections of her mother's illness and the suffering that had taken place in that house. _

_Elijah and Elena's house was no different, and it was something she was confronted with every day. While she and Klaus had sorted through some the less sentimental items in the house, they hadn't even touched photographs or photo albums; neither one of them had set foot in Elijah and Elena's bedroom since the day she had to select clothing for them to be buried in. _

_It seemed like an invasion of their privacy, and further confirmation that they were truly gone. _

_Having been gone longer than she anticipated, she burst through the back door exasperatedly to find Klaus and Grayson on the sofa in the family room indulging in some morning cartoons - once you put them on for Grayson to watch, he wouldn't let you change the channel without having a minor meltdown. _

_She smirked and paused to catch her breath. _

_Klaus peered over his shoulder as she peeled out of her damp sweater and kicked off her running shoes. _

_Sometimes he looked at her a certain way and it would spark shivers to rush down her spine. This was one of those moments, but she quickly attributed it to the chill that had surrounded her now that she had stopped her exercise. _

"How was your run?" Klaus asked casually as she eagerly filled a glass with water.

"Fine," she said with a slow pant, gazing at the clock that was threatening to make her late for work. "I need to go get ready," she informed him, before disappearing down the hallway.

_In the bathroom, there was barely even a hint that Klaus had previously been there, save for the wet tiles in the shower and the consuming fresh scent of his body wash. _

_That was one thing she was thankful for: Klaus didn't make a mess of the bathroom like she assumed most men did. He barely spent enough time in the bathroom to make a mess anyways. She was a different story, however, and she commended Klaus for putting up with her array of beauty and hygiene products that decorated the vanity. _

_When it came to cleaning the bathroom, she did all of it, except for the toilet. She refused to clean the seat, even though Klaus assured her his aim was impeccable. As a trade off, she cleaned the rest. _

_After her rushed shower, she dressed hastily in a white cami, pink blazer, and jeans, before throwing her hair up and applying some makeup haphazardly. _

_She grabbed her purse and her phone from her room and dashed down the stairs for her leather boots and spring coat. _

_Heading for the backdoor, she found Grayson in his highchair and Klaus at the stove, cracking an egg. _

"Would you like something to eat?" he offered, turning around to look at her.

_She smiled appreciatively and shook her head. _

"Thanks, but I have to get to work. I can't be late. I need to set a good example," she laughed.

_He glared at her disapprovingly before his expression relaxed. _

"Is Grayson's swim lesson still on tonight?" Klaus asked.

_She had completely forgotten about that. She had to remind herself to stop off at her apartment to retrieve a bathing suit. _

"Yeah, do you still want to come?" she asked.

_He nodded. _

"I do...but...I guess I can use a pair of Elijah's shorts," he concluded reluctantly, obviously having forgotten to pack his own when he left New York.

"Yeah," she replied. "Shit, that reminds me, my clothes are still in the dryer," she said, darting towards the basement.

"I'll get it for you," Klaus offered.

"Thanks," she smiled. "I'll meet you here later and then we can head over to the community centre together? The lesson starts at six," she reminded him.

"That sounds good. I'll make sure Grayson is ready," he stated.

_She nodded hurriedly, placing a quick kiss atop Grayson's head. _

"I need to go now, or I really am going to be late," she panicked. "I'll see you tonight," she said to the both of them.

* * *

_To her relief, she had arrived at the store before Camille. _

_While she waited to open the store, she prepared a tray for the cash register and checked her emails and work voicemails in her office. _

_The backdoor opening signalled Camille's arrival. _

_Her eyes lit up when Camille appeared in the doorway holding what she eagerly assumed were a bag of baked goods and more coffee. _

"Hey," Camille said cheerfully, setting the items down on her desk.

"Hey," she replied, quickly grabbing one of the coffees and digging her hand into the bag.

_She was starving, and probably could have stayed behind to eat breakfast with Klaus and let Camille open the store, but she didn't want to put that on Camille's shoulders. Plus, she had been trying to keep a safe distance between her and Klaus - well as much as she could considering the circumstances. _

"You're a lifesaver," she mumbled, as she bit into the carrot muffin.

"I know," Camille said amusedly. "So what do you want me doing today, boss?"

"I need you out front until April comes in. Then I'll probably need your help in the back to do some inventory and a few minor alterations. I'd have April do them, but they need to be done by Monday. I need to start pulling things together for Mrs. Lockwood's masquerade dress. I don't have a lot of time," she realized, glancing quickly at the calendar.

_Camille nodded. _

"Are you still leaving early for Grayson's swim lesson?" Camille wondered.

"Yes," she answered, "which reminds me, I need to slip up to my apartment while Damon is at work and find an appropriate swimsuit to wear."

_Camille's eyes lit up. _

"Appropriate for whom?" Camille inquired suggestively. "Is Klaus going?"

_She rolled her eyes. _

"Well considering most of the mothers who will be there just gave birth a few months ago, I don't want show up in a tiny bikini. That would be insensitive. Plus, it's a child-centered environment," she pointed out. "And yes, Klaus is going."

_Camille laughed as she picked through the bag of baked goods. _

"Do you even have an appropriate bathing suit? I wouldn't exactly call that white bikini you wore to Virginia Beach last summer appropriate," Camille snorted.

_Her cheeks flushed as her lips spread into an embarrassed smile. _

"I think I might still have a one-piece. I hope," she said, standing up from her desk as she practically inhaled the rest of the muffin. "I'm going to check before I forget. I'll open up the store on my way out."

_She grabbed her keys and headed for the front of the store, unconcerned about a jacket, knowing she would only be outside for a few seconds. _

_Once she changed the sign to open and unlocked the doors of the store, she slipped out and buzzed up to her apartment. It felt weird buzzing up to the space that she still considered hers, but she did it as a courtesy, just in case Damon hadn't gone to work yet for whatever reason. _

_When there was no answer, she unlocked the door and trekked up the stairs. _

_From what she could tell when she entered, the apartment didn't look much different from the way she had left it to Damon two weeks ago. _

_There was some clutter on the kitchen counter and a few of Damon's things scattered about the living room, but it wasn't unbearable. In fact, it looked a lot like it would have had she still been living here and been too busy to clean up. _

_She breathed a sigh of relief. _

"I wasn't expecting a visitor," Damon's voice said from behind her.

_Her body tensed immediately as her cheeks flushed. _

"Oh my god!" she winced, spinning around on her heel to face him. "I'm so...sorry," she stammered, noting the fact that Damon was dressed in nothing but a towel around his waist.

_She looked away guiltily, just as she felt her eyes beginning to take in the sight of his glistening abs and biceps. _

"Don't be," Damon smirked, clearly noting the way she was trying to avoid staring at him.

"I didn't think you were home. I buzzed up and nobody answered," she explained, trying to concentrate on anything but the sight of him.

"I was in the shower," he shrugged.

_Clearly, she thought. _

"Were you coming up to ensure that I was being a responsible tenant while I was at work?" Damon wondered, raising his eyebrows.

_She shook her head. _

"No...no, there are some things I need...to pick up," she said, her voice still shaky from being caught in her own apartment by a half-naked Damon Salvatore. "And I'm just gonna go to my room now and grab them," she finished awkwardly, brushing by him on her way to her bedroom.

_She rushed to her room and chastised herself quietly for getting herself into such a humiliating situation. _

_Pulling at her half-empty dresser drawers, she searched for her swimsuits. _

_Locating them, she splayed them out on her bed and appraised each one. There was the white bikini Camille had been referring to, a nautical themed bikini, a pink one, a purple one, and a blue polka-dotted one. None of them were appropriate. The only one that came close to modesty was a black retro-inspired monokini. _

"Swimming in April?" Damon said from the doorway, surprising her once more.

_At least this time he was wearing more clothes, she thought, noting the black slacks and the light blue collared shirt he was wearing. _

_She hesitated. _

"Grayson's swimming lessons resume tonight," she revealed. "Since Elena and Elijah paid for them in advance, I figure we should probably finish them. It would be a waste of money not to. Plus, he seems to enjoy the water."

_Damon stepped into the room a little further and peered over her shoulder at her swimsuit options. _

_She sighed self-consciously. _

"And I need a swimsuit that I can wear that doesn't make it seem like I'm showing off in front of the other moms. I don't have any right to considering I didn't give birth to a baby seven months ago. I'd feel..."

- "...like an asshole?" Damon interjected.

_A laugh escaped her lips as she nodded. _

"I get that you don't want the other women to feel self-conscious or ashamed of their bodies, but why should you feel ashamed of yours?" Damon pointed out, peering at her in a way that made her cheeks turn blush once more.

"Maybe you're right," she shrugged.

_He did have a point. She considered one of the more modest bikinis. _

"Will Klaus be going with you two?" Damon wondered.

"Yeah," she said hesitantly, glaring at him curiously, having already been asked that question today.

_He leaned in and picked up the black swimsuit. _

"Then definitely go with this one," he concluded, handing it to her.

_Her eyebrows scrunched up in confusion as she eyed him suspiciously. _

_She wasn't even going to bother inquiring about what he was implying. _

"So are you playing hooky from work today?" she questioned, intent upon changing the subject.

_She gathered up the bathing suits and put them back in the dresser drawer. _

"No, not really," he admitted. "I have a morning meeting with Carol Lockwood."

_Her eyebrow arched inquiringly. _

"It's about that masquerade fundraiser," Damon said.

"Why?" she asked confused, attempting to put the pieces of the puzzle together as they stepped out of her bedroom and she headed for the hall.

"Well the fundraiser is benefiting the hospital this year. Elijah and Elena were two of the main proponents of the fundraiser on the hospital's end of things. I think Mrs. Lockwood wants me to step in as a sort of representative for Elijah," he assumed.

_Her features relaxed. _

"Oh, I guess that makes sense. I'm actually designing Carol's dress and helping with some of the details of the event," she informed him.

"She told me," Damon smiled. "She seemed really excited about it."

_Damon's inference boosted her confidence a little. _

"Well she's not going to very excited when she finds out that I'm still at the drawing board, so I should probably get back down to the store and get to work," she said, thinking on her toes to come up with an excuse to leave.

"Yeah, I should probably finish getting ready. I don't want to make a bad impression," Damon mused, following her towards the door.

"I'm really sorry for barging in on you," she said guiltily.

_Damon scoffed and shook his head. _

"Don't apologize. It was a pleasant surprise," he beamed at her.

_She gave him a stupid grin before leaving, cursing herself immediately once she was on the other side of the door._

* * *

_It was nearing eleven the next time she had a chance to notice the time. _

_She had practically barricaded herself in the backroom of the store and her office as she worked determinedly on ideas for Carol's dress, sketching options and pulling swatches of material for colour and texture. _

_The only time she faltered on her task is when she was inspired to sketch a few ideas for her own dress. It was something she was constantly forgetting. Not only did she need to make Carol a dress, but she needed to make one for herself as well. _

"She's just back here," she heard the faint sound of Camille's voice say from the front of the store.

_Looking up, she waited expectantly, wondering who it could be. At first, she thought it might be Klaus and that automatically prompted her to panic about Grayson. _

_She was surprised by who she saw standing behind Camille. _

"Damon," she breathed, mustering a small smile.

"Maybe you can get her to take a break?" Camille said to Damon sweetly.

_Camille glared in her direction, wriggling her eyebrows subtly but suggestively before leaving her alone with Damon. _

"It looks like it's my turn to barge in on you," Damon smirked, glancing down at her messy desk.

_She raised an inquisitive eyebrow. _

"I stopped to get myself some lunch on my way back from my meeting with Mrs. Lockwood; I picked up some extra and thought you might like to share it with me?" Damon proposed, holding up a paper bag.

_Biting her lip reluctantly, she glanced down at the collage of work on her desk. She didn't want to be rude to Damon, but she was in the midst of her inspiration and she wasn't exactly enthused to put a halt to it. _

_However, the rumbling of her stomach and the realization that she had forgotten her lunch on the kitchen counter urged her to accept his offer. _

"I...don't know," she stammered. "You didn't have to..."

"Even busy people have to eat," Damon argued. "Besides, I haven't gotten a chance to thank you for letting me rent out your apartment. Think of it as a token of my appreciation."

_Doing her best to smile appreciatively, she slowly began to make space on her desk for the unexpected lunchtime delivery. _

_Damon set the large paper bag down on the desk and grabbed an extra chair to sit on. _

"How did your meeting with Carol go?" she asked politely as Damon reached into the bag.

_He pulled out two Styrofoam containers and handed her one. _

"She's kind of an intimidating woman," Damon chuckled.

_Opening her container, her stomach couldn't help but rumble at the sight of the chicken wraps. _

"She had an earful to say about her son," Damon mused.

"That sounds about right," she related.

"You two dated?" he queried. "You and Tyler that is," he laughed. "She told me."

_She nodded with a laugh. _

"Yeah, we did, unfortunately. It started as a high school thing and never really progressed beyond that. It didn't end well. Carol has a difficult time accepting that it's over even though its been two years," she summarized, uninterested in divulging all the details of her relationship with Tyler and its demise to him.

"It seems like it," Damon sympathized. "And you continue to work with her?"

_She shrugged. _

"She gives me a lot of business. I'm not exactly in a position to refuse. She and I are also involved in a lot of the same town functions, so I don't want to create any waves between us . We actually have a pretty decent working relationship when she's not mentioning Tyler," she said. "What did she have to say with regards to the fundraiser?" she questioned, intent upon changing the subject.

"I think we're on the same page as far as the fundraiser goes. She gave me some talking points to bring up in my speech in terms of the hospital and how the funds will benefit it, but mostly she wants me to talk about Elijah and Elena and their involvement," he told her.

_She nodded. _

"You'll do fine," she assured him. "You and Stefan were great at Elijah and Elena's wedding."

_He smirked as he took a bite of his wrap. _

"I thought you hated me that night," Damon confessed.

_Her cheeks flushed a little from embarrassment as she chewed through her first tasty bite. _

"I didn't hate you," she stammered. "I was just stressed out that night, and you kind of stepped on my toes," she admitted. "Your cocky bravado when we first met didn't really win you any points either," she mused.

_Damon lowered his head a little, a small guilty smile playing on his lips. _

"Yeah, I sometimes have a tendency to speak before I think," he explained. "That was a good night though," he reminisced.

_She agreed passively while taking another bite of food. In reality, she had mixed feelings about that night. _

_On the one hand, that entire weekend had been one of the best; she got to watch her childhood best friend marry the man of her dreams. When she thought about Elena and Elijah now, images of them together from that day were often the first to be triggered. On the other hand, that day was filled with memories of Klaus, ones that left her tangled up in a web of conflicting emotions. While he had left her feeling manipulated and disappointed, thoughts of their weekend together had an uncanny ability to send her stomach and other parts of her body into a frenzy. _

"So how is Grayson?" Damon asked after a few moments of silence.

"He's good, I think; he seems happy, so I guess Klaus and I aren't completely screwing up," she laughed. "We think he could be getting ready to start crawling."

"How are his gums?" Damon inquired.

"He's cut a few more teeth. He and Sophie the giraffe - the teething toy Klaus picked up for him when he was in New York - are pretty much inseparable," she sighed amusedly. "It's still so surreal though," she admitted. "I kind of keep expecting Elijah and Elena to come home. It's just amazing how quickly things changed. I never imagined I'd be raising my best friend's son with her brother-in-law," she shrugged, still in disbelief despite the dozen or so days that had already passed.

"And how is that going?" Damon questioned before taking another bite of his lunch.

_She arched her eyebrow in confusion. _

"Living with Klaus?" he clarified.

_Laughing lightly, she hoped to play down the intensely curious way Damon had asked the question. _

"It's been okay. We have somewhat of a working routine going as far as Grayson and the house are concerned. I've never shared a place with a guy before longterm, so that's taken some getting used to - no offense," she joked.

_Damon shook his head with a knowing smile. _

"So it hasn't been awkward for the two of you?" he wondered.

_Again, she arched her eyebrow in confusion. _

"I just know that you two have some history..." Damon mentioned.

_She began to stammer as she tried to develop a suitable response. _

"Sorry, I'm completely overstepping," he apologized. "You don't have to talk about it."

"I don't think you could really even classify a fling as 'history,'" she shrugged, aiming for indifferent. "It really hasn't been awkward in that sense at all," she lied.

_Damon appeared amused by her reply. _

"So you two are just friends?" he inquired.

"Sort of," she answered.

_It was Damon's turn to raise a curious eyebrow. _

"Friends with benefits?" he assumed.

_She snorted at his presumption and found her cheeks growing hot once more. _

"No," she denied flatly. "We're just becoming friends," she explained.

_Damon nodded, seemingly understanding what she had intended to mean in the first place. _

"Well that's good," Damon answered in a relieved tone.

_She glared at him quizzically, uncertain by his reaction. _

"It won't be awkward then if I ask you to be my date to the fundraiser," Damon concluded brazenly, taking her by surprise.

_All the muscles in her body seemed to tense as she stared at Damon dumbfounded. _

"Would you like to be my date?" Damon asked.

"Um...uh," she stuttered as she tried to process his question and her answer.

_She couldn't even recall the last time she had been asked out on a proper date by the opposite sex. Beyond that, the possible implications of his question put her guard up. Not only did she have herself to think about now, but she had Grayson. As good looking and friendly as Damon was, she couldn't dive into this. She had to be wary of him - now, even more so. _

"It doesn't have to be a 'date date,'" Damon backpedalled, "we can go as friends. I just figured since we're both going that we could go together. It would save us from taking turns playing third wheel to my baby brother and Meredith all night," he groaned. "Plus with the way Mrs. Lockwood was talking up you and Tyler, I figure I could be a good buffer."

_She considered his offer carefully and debated upon it for a few moments. Damon did raise a good point about the third wheel thing. Moreover, attending with Damon would be a good guard against Tyler and Hayley should they decide to make an appearance. Beyond this, there was a part of her excited by the prospect of attending the fundraiser with a date rather than alone._

_Still, she felt herself holding back. _

_Damon sighed disappointedly. _

"Let me guess, you already have a date," he concluded.

_She opened her mouth to respond, but Damon interrupted. _

"Well I know it's not Klaus because he would never willingly attend something like this," Damon joked. "So who is my competition?"

"I don't have a date," she shook her head. "I just...it's..." she sighed exasperatedly. "Okay, I'll be your date to the fundraiser," she relented.

_Damon's smile widened and she did her best to match it despite her reservations._

* * *

_He yawned tiredly as he trudged downstairs to the basement with the unexpectedly heavy pile of laundry that he had to do. Surprisingly, only half of it was his while the other half belonged to Grayson. It amazed him how much laundry one small baby could create. _

_Chores like this weren't exactly an ideal way of spending time, but with Grayson down for his morning nap, he revelled in the silence as he sorted through the clothes and put the first load into the washer. _

_Getting things accomplished on the days he was alone with Grayson was a rarity, so he intended to take advantage of every moment. _

_He was still getting used to taking care of Grayson on his own, but to his relief and Caroline's surprise, both he and Grayson had survived the past few times unscathed. _

_In fact, he found himself enjoying their time alone together. He had fun with Grayson - when he wasn't screaming at the top of his lungs or filling his diaper. Plus, it was nice being free of Caroline's neurotic perfectionism sometimes. _

_Aside from that, sharing the house with Caroline hadn't been as complicated as he anticipated it would be. _

_They had seemed to find a natural division of labour that appeased the both of them, and they really hadn't had many disagreements when it came to that or Grayson. _

_He glanced over at the laundry sink and noticed a few of Caroline's wet clothes draped over the edge that she had clearly washed by hand. _

_Okay, so things hadn't been entirely uncomplicated, he conceded to himself as he observed a black lace bra beside a hot pink one of a similar style. _

_He swallowed anxiously and looked away, resisting the urge to imagine what Caroline looked like in her lingerie, focusing on the task of removing Caroline's clothes from the dryer - where he was sure to be confronted with more suggestive items. _

_Contained amongst the more harmless pieces of clothing, were a few skimpy pairs of panties and nighties. _

_He closed his eyes and quickly tossed the clothes into an empty laundry basket, wrinkles be damned. He had only offered to take the clothes out of the dryer - mainly so he could use it himself - he hadn't offered to fold her clothes and put them away for her. _

_Yes, things between them had not been without complications, he reiterated. _

_There was a constant thick blanket of unresolved sexual tension and attraction surrounding them; well it surrounded him at least. He couldn't speak for her, although he did catch her lingering stares every so often - the same ones he was often guilty of bestowing upon her. _

_He couldn't help himself. He chalked his unwavering attraction to her up to their close proximity and their history with one another. _

_Despite that, it was becoming a little pathetic - how much of an effect she had upon him. His body didn't discriminate when it came to her. She could be dressed in a tight tank top and pyjama shorts, or a baggy t-shirt and sweatpants and his own pants still tightened at the sight. Not even his hand or the occasional night with Vicki could stifle his need for her. _

_More alarming to him was his desire to simply be with her. He looked forward to seeing her when she returned from work, perhaps almost as much as Grayson did; and he enjoyed spending time with her, even if most of their time together included Grayson or taking care of chores. _

_As far as he knew, Caroline was entirely unaware of his growing fondness for her. Despite the looks from her he sometimes noticed and the occasional awkward moment between them, she didn't seem the least bit interested in him. He didn't blame her. Though he had stepped up to take responsibility of Grayson with her, he hadn't taken responsibility for his actions a year ago. To her, he was probably still that guy. _

_He also knew as well as she did that their main priority was Grayson. Succumbing to his lust for her would only threaten their already vulnerable situation. It could endanger their chances of securing permanent custody of Grayson. It could destroy the amicable atmosphere they had created for him. He didn't want to give up Grayson to his parents, nor did he want Grayson to grow up in the middle of a hostile relationship between him and Caroline. He wanted this to work. _

_And so, he kept his shifting feelings for Caroline to himself and attempted to sublimate his craving for her during his free time with his art, liquor, and the occasional tryst with Vicki. _

_Shaking himself from his thoughts, he finished with the laundry and retreated upstairs. He had a pair of swim shorts to locate from Elijah's room before Grayson woke. He'd been putting the task off since he first put Grayson to bed even though the bedroom was right next door. _

_As he entered the bedroom, he realized that he hadn't been in the room since he had tried to comfort Caroline after her break down the night before Elijah and Elena's funeral. _

_Though he slept in Elijah's office, he felt uneasy when it came to even stepping foot in Elijah and Elena's bedroom. He felt like he was invading sacred or personal space that he shouldn't be. He supposed it served as a more salient reminder that they were no longer there. _

_Clothes, photographs, and other personal items left behind in this room gave him an eerie and uncomfortable feeling. _

_He went for the dresser he recalled belonged to Elijah, since Elena's things took up most of the space in their walk-in closet, leaving Elijah with only room to hang his suits. _

_Elijah was never really a fan of summer attire, so he was not surprised to find what he was looking for in the bottom drawer. _

_He fished through the deep drawer until he found a pair of navy blue swim shorts. _

_Underneath, however, his knuckles brushed against what felt like a book, rather than the grain of the solid wood drawer. _

_He pushed all the neatly folded clothes aside, almost feeling Elijah curse him as he did so, in order to get a better look. _

_At the bottom of the drawer were a collection of small rectangular notebooks. _

_He stared at them for a moment, trying to place where he had seen them before. _

_Elijah's journals, he concluded. He had started keeping a journal when he was a teenager. He always used to make fun of Elijah for it. He recalled stealing one when he was younger and threatening to read it aloud. Elijah responded by punching him in the stomach and hitting him over the head with the book. That's how he remembered them. He never touched Elijah's journals again, partly due to the threat of physical retaliation from Elijah, and partly because Elijah had likened his journals to his sketchbooks. He understood then that Elijah's journals were something personal to him, only to be shared if he willed them to be. _

_He stared down at the books intensely, full of curiosity and dread. Those books contained Elijah's thoughts and insights; those journals were the most concrete connection to his brother he had left; they were the truest evidence, aside from Grayson and photographs, that Elijah had lived - that his brother had not been some figment of his imagination who had suddenly disappeared into the wind one March night. _

_The part of him who longed to see his brother again, who wanted to feel their bond once more, was desperate to immerse himself in those journals. However, he hesitated. Though Elijah was gone, those journals contained his personal thoughts. He wasn't sure if it was appropriate that he read them now. He still felt like he would be invading Elijah's privacy, that he might still be deserving of a punch to the stomach if he read them. _

_That said, though he had never been much of a believer in the paranormal, he couldn't help but wonder if him finding the journals was a sign from Elijah. Perhaps Elijah was willing them to be shared now by having him stumble upon them? He shook his head at the ridiculous notion. Finding the journals was pure coincidence. _

_He stared down at the journals with his hands practically burning to open one. _

_That's when his phone began to buzz from the pocket of his jeans. _

_He shut the drawer promptly and focused his attention upon the phone. _

_It was a text from Rebekah. _

_'Are you and Grayson still Skyping with me today?' _

_He could practically hear Rebekah's demanding voice asking the question. _

_Affirming that they would in a half hour, he left Elijah and Elena's room, dropping his borrowed swim shorts off in his room before heading for Grayson's. It was time he woke up from his morning nap anyways._

* * *

_He set up his laptop downstairs at the dining table so that he could put Grayson in his high chair while they Skyped with Rebekah. _

_Rebekah appeared on the screen looking upset but thrilled all at the same time. _

"Finally!" Rebekah groaned. "I thought I was going to have to make a trip to Mystic Falls just to see you both again. I didn't think setting up a time to Skype with you would be so difficult. It's been nearly two weeks since I left," she lamented.

_He rolled his eyes. _

"Stop being dramatic little sister. You made setting up a time to talk just as difficult," he pointed out.

_Rebekah grumbled under her breath but her frown was quickly replaced with a smile when she turned her attention upon Grayson. _

"Hi Grayson," Rebekah cooed. "You're getting so big and handsome," she said in a sing-song voice.

"Look," he said to Grayson, pointing to the screen. "It's your Auntie Bekah."

_Grayson muttered a few incoherent sounds as he reached towards the computer. _

"I think he's definitely gotten bigger since I saw him," Rebekah observed.

_He shrugged, unsure if he agreed with Rebekah's assessment or not. _

"Maybe," he replied. "He doesn't seem to mind the formula we've been feeding him. He goes through it like crazy," he complained. "It's not cheap stuff."

"I thought you said you and Caroline got the money situation taken care of?" Rebekah questioned with a serious tone.

"We did," he nodded. "But this kid is not going to have any inheritance left with the way he goes through formula and diapers," he mused. "Speaking of which, we have to make a special trip to the grocery store this afternoon just to pick up some more."

_Rebekah laughed. _

"Babies need to eat and pooh, Nik," she reminded him with a smirk.

_Grayson shrieked as if to affirm Rebekah's statement. _

"Has he gotten any more teeth in yet?" she wondered. "Caroline sent me a picture last week."

"He has another. It looks like he could be ready to cut a few more," he revealed. "We think he might be getting ready to crawl, but we're not sure," he informed her, feeling an odd sense of accomplishment.

"Well then I guess you're going to have to go out and buy some cupboard locks and baby gates sooner rather than later," Rebekah concluded.

"Yeah, I guess so," he replied.

_He really hadn't even considered the implications of Grayson being able to crawl. Grayson would be able to go out and explore on his own. It meant that they would have to keep an even more vigilant eye on him than they already did. _

"Has CPS visited you yet?" Rebekah inquired curiously.

"No, they haven't. We're expecting their first visit anytime though. They won't tell us the exact date and time of the visit. I feel like I'm living in a museum. Caroline is incessant about keeping everything tidy," he complained.

"She just wants to make a good impression," Rebekah said, sympathizing with Caroline's intentions.

_He sighed in annoyance. _

"I don't think it's going to matter much whether there's a few dishes in the sink. They're either going to like us or they won't," he shrugged.

_Rebekah gave him a worried look. _

"There's a lot riding on these visits, Nik. You know what could happen if they don't like you," she warned.

"I know," he said sternly. "I know, but obsessing over it is exhausting. Caroline does enough of that for the both of us."

_He fell silent for a moment as he hesitated to ask the question he'd been afraid to ask since they had begun their conversation. _

"Have they said anything to you? Mother and Father?" he asked Rebekah.

_Rebekah shook her head. _

"They've been tight-lipped around me. I'm kind of hoping they've given up the notion of seeking custody of Grayson, but I'm sure they're just keeping me in the dark so I won't tell you anything. I've been snooping around, but I've found nothing," she told him.

_He sighed, feeling unnerved by Rebekah's lack of information. _

"Perhaps they really have given up the idea?" Rebekah suggested optimistically.

_He glared at her incredulously and she frowned in response. _

"Doubtful, but I suppose we'll find out in a couple weeks," he realized glumly.

"How about we don't discuss Mother and Father?" Rebekah proposed. "Let's talk about Grayson. How has he been?" she wondered.

_He shrugged, looking at Grayson who was presently occupied with his slobbery fingers. _

"Other than his teething troubles, he seems content. He's sleeping through the night occasionally, and he's babbling up a storm," he recounted. "His swim lessons start again this evening."

"You're taking Grayson swimming?" Rebekah mused. "What about your tattoo?"

_He had almost forgotten Rebekah knew about his tattoo. Caroline had spilled the news to her last week and he had been forced to text her a picture immediately as a result. _

"Caroline and I are taking Grayson," he informed her reluctantly, knowing her mind would already be making it into something more than it was.

_Judging by the smile on her lips, he could tell her mind was already working overtime. _

"He doesn't really swim, it's just getting him used to the water," he explained. "And the tattoo should be fine; it's been two weeks. I'm not going to be submerged underwater or anything."

_Rebekah nodded absently, her mind clearly somewhere other than on his tattoo. _

"Have you and Caroline been spending a lot of time with Grayson together?" she asked nosily.

_He grimaced. _

"Considering we live in the same house and are both taking care of the same kid, I think it's safe to conclude that Caroline and I spend a lot of time together with Grayson," he sighed sarcastically.

_Still, Rebekah's smile grew. _

"How are things with Caroline?" she asked predictably.

"They're fine, Bekah," he said sternly. "She does her thing, I do mine, we've divided the chores, and split time with Grayson. To be honest, I don't see her that much. When she's not with Grayson, she's at the store," he shrugged. "She even spends her free time there."

_For a moment, he considered the possibility that maybe she was avoiding him. _

"She told me she's really busy with work," Rebekah affirmed.

"That's probably why she skipped breakfast and stormed out of here in a hurry this morning...and forgot her lunch apparently," he said, just noticing Caroline's packed lunch on the counter by the back door now.

"Maybe when you go out to pick up Grayson's things, you could ask Caroline to lunch? She could probably use a break?" Rebekah suggested innocently.

_He knew Rebekah's ulterior motives were far from innocent, but he found himself considering her idea, nonetheless._

* * *

_This was his first trip out alone with Grayson, he realized as he parked in the car in the grocery store parking lot - taking full advantage of the family parking spaces close to the store entrance. _

_Sure, he had picked Grayson up from daycare a few times now, but he had never really taken him anywhere alone before. _

_He packed a few supplies in Grayson's diaper bag before they left - probably nothing compared to what Caroline would have packed - but he had fed and changed Grayson before they left, so he hoped Grayson would be good for the duration of their trip. _

"We'll be in and out bud, so please make this painless for me," he pleaded with Grayson as he pulled him out of his car seat.

_Luckily, they had finally had a chance to open the gifts Rebekah had bought Grayson during their Skype conversation earlier. One of the gifts had been a red and blue spring coat - something Grayson needed for the changing weather but didn't have. Elijah and Elena hadn't had the chance to prepare for spring. _

_He and Caroline were going to have to buy a lot more clothes for Grayson soon, he reminded himself. He was growing out of things every time they went to change him, it seemed. _

_Walking into the store, he held Grayson self-consciously as he went for the carts. _

_He secured Grayson in the baby seat and ventured into the store towards the baby aisles, trying to ignore the stares and smiles he seemed to be receiving. _

_Grayson was preoccupied by all the sights and sounds while he grabbed the usual diapers from the shelf, and then began scanning for the special swim diapers. _

_A woman with a baby boy a little older than Grayson passed them, with the woman giving an awed glance to Grayson and then a smile in his direction. _

_The unfamiliar exchange left him distracted, causing him surprise when he turned and noticed a female store employee approaching him. _

_The young brunette smiled widely at Grayson. _

"He's adorable," she beamed before looking up at him. "You look a little lost. Is there anything I can help you find?"

_He was inclined to say no; he hated asking other people for help, but he knew he'd be standing here forever looking at all the diaper varieties if he didn't ask. _

"I need the diapers that are appropriate for pools. This little guy has a swimming lesson tonight," he explained.

_She nodded with a grin and pointed down to a brand on the bottom shelf. _

"These are made especially for swimming. They're the best ones. They come in different sizes," she informed him.

"Thanks," he replied.

"No problem," she said cheerfully. "Have fun at your swimming lesson," she said in a baby voice to Grayson, shaking his tiny hand. "I'll be over in the next aisle if you need anything," she finished politely, leaving him with a flirty smile as she disappeared down the aisle.

_He looked down the empty aisle and then smirked at Grayson, wondering if there was a correlation occurring. Although he hated to admit it, perhaps Damon was right; maybe Grayson was the best kind of wingman. _

_Laughing at the thought, he headed for the aisle that contained the baby formula before heading for the check-outs where he received a few more intrigued glances from young and old women alike. _

_He left the store shaking his head in amusement. _

_His stomach groaned loudly from hunger as he secured Grayson back in his car seat, provoking a curious look from Grayson. _

"Uncle Klaus needs to eat," he confirmed.

_Rebekah's earlier suggestion crossed his mind. _

_He smiled down at Grayson. _

"Do you want to go visit Caroline?" He asked Grayson.

_As though he recognized the name, Grayson smiled and released an excited shriek. _

"Then it's settled. We'll go see if Caroline wants to have lunch with us," he concluded, suddenly feeling a little anxious.

* * *

_He parked out front of Caroline's store. Fully expecting to have to bring Grayson into the store in his carrier - assuming he had fallen asleep during the short ride - he was surprised to see that he was still wide awake despite the time nearing two in the afternoon. _

_Unbuckling Grayson from his seat, he headed for the store's entrance curiously. _

_He had never actually been in her store before or seen any of her work apart from Elena's wedding dress. _

_Although the exterior of the store fit in with the small town charm of the other store facades, the inside of the store was unexpectedly modern. Halogen track lighting illuminated the space, while a monochromatic colour scheme and exposed brick attracted the eye. _

_The store itself wasn't actually that big, nor was it cluttered with racks of clothing. Mass production was not a part of Caroline's business plan. She wanted to underscore her custom work, which is why he assumed most of the building's main floor square-footage was contained behind the back wall - where Caroline worked. _

_A young raven-haired girl peered up from a computer behind the counter. A look of realization spread across her face as she seemed to recognize Grayson. _

"Grayson," she squealed. "Hey there little guy," she greeted as she stepped around the counter and approached them.

_Grayson began to squirm in his grasp in response. _

"You must be Klaus?" the girl inquired. "I'm April," she informed him, extending her hand to introduce herself.

_He shook it, though Grayson leaned forward and attempted to intercede. _

"That would be me," he chuckled as he released her hand. "Is Caroline around?"

_An intriguing smile emerged on April's lips at his mention of Caroline and he couldn't help but eye her suspiciously. _

"She's in her office, you can go back if you'd like or I can page her up here," April offered.

"Thanks, we'll go back," he decided, interested in seeing more of the building.

_He walked through the open wooden pocket doors that lead into the back room. _

_The large unfinished room confirmed his suspicions about much of the main floor footprint being devoted to work space. _

_This part of the building - save for the walled off row of rooms on the right - had retained its history with the rough wood floors and the large exposed beams and brick. _

_There were work tables in the centre of the room, with inventory and materials stored on the left-hand side. _

_The room itself actually reminded him a lot of his workspace back in New York, though its tidiness did not. _

_He mused at Caroline's ability to keep even a space meant for unrestrained creativity neatly organized and contained. _

_At the back wall another of Caroline's employees - Camille he presumed - was busy muttering expletives at a sewing machine. _

_When the noise from the machine stopped, he cleared his throat. _

_Startled, she turned around and noticed him standing there with Grayson. _

_She was older than April, but probably the same age as Caroline, he deduced. Her hair was blonde like Caroline's but a little darker. Her bright eyes sparkled at him as her cheeks reddened and she flashed him a smile similar to April's. _

"Sorry, the machine has a personality of its own and has decided to be uncooperative," she huffed apologetically for the use of language he had walked in on her using.

_He shrugged with an amused look. _

"No need to apologize," he assured her.

_She laughed, standing up to move towards them. _

"All my foul language seems to come out when children are around," she explained, nodding towards Grayson.

"Caroline has the same habit," he chuckled, thinking back to the numerous times in the past two weeks she had let a curse word slip in front of Grayson.

"Well then I don't feel so bad," Camille concluded with a grin. "I'm Camille," she introduced herself, politely extending her hand.

"I'm..."

- "Klaus," she interrupted. "Nice to meet you, finally."

"Likewise," he said, arching an eyebrow at her.

"I was at the Grill with Caroline for Elijah and Elena's celebration of life; she pointed me out to you," Camille revealed. "Plus, even if I hadn't seen you then, I'm positive you're the only cute accented male who's supposed to have Grayson at the moment," she said, laughing nervously at her subtle compliment.

"Good point," he smirked, wondering if perhaps that's how Caroline initially described him to her employees.

_Camille zeroed in on Grayson and tickled his tummy lightly. _

"Hey dude," she greeted him. "Are you here to visit Caroline?" she cooed to Grayson playfully.

_Grayson erupted into giggles though he tucked his head into the crook of his neck shyly. _

_She scoffed jovially, feigning offence as Grayson turned away from her. _

"I see how it is," she joked to Grayson. "Caroline gets all the male admirers today," she chuckled, looking up at him.

"Is she here?" he wondered.

_Camille nodded towards the ajar door in the back right corner. _

"She's in her office...been in there practically all day," Camille sighed. "Disturb her at your own risk."

_Laughing, he heeded Camille's warning and approached the door cautiously. _

_From her office he could hear the sound of pop rock music and Caroline humming absently. _

_He tapped on the door and it inadvertently creaked open. _

_Caroline was seated in her chair, her bare feet curled around the edge of her desk, with her eyes pensively fixed upon the sketchbook propped upright against her thighs and a pencil in her hand. _

_She looked...beautiful, he thought discreetly. _

"Camille...what," Caroline began before looking up.

_Upon noticing him, she dropped her legs from her desk, straightened out her posture and closed her sketchbook. _

"Klaus," she said with a surprised tone, as she glanced between him and Grayson. "What are you two doing here?" she wondered, turning off the music on her computer.

_He could hear the worry in her voice. _

"Grayson and I were out picking up diapers and formula - I got some of those special swim pants too - and I thought we'd stop by. I've never been here before," he reasoned as she stood up from the desk.

_Of course, he had been in her upstairs apartment once before, but that was different. _

"Well, it's nothing special," she shrugged, extending her hands towards Grayson to take him.

"It's nice," he encouraged, handing Grayson over to her.

"Did you come to visit me?" she asked Grayson, who dug his tiny fingers into her skin and squealed with delight. "Where did this coat come from?" she wondered, missing nothing as usual.

"It was in the gift bag Rebekah left behind. Grayson and I Skyped with her earlier and he opened it...well, I helped," he conceded.

_Caroline smiled at Grayson. _

"You're spoiled mister," she mused to Grayson, planting a kiss upon his cheek. "So, I guess you met April and Camille then?" Caroline inquired to him as she brushed her fingers through Grayson's hair.

"I did," he confirmed. "Camille told me to disturb you at my own risk," he chuckled. "You look busy," he observed, nodding towards her book and the variety of materials splayed out on her desk. "We're not bothering you?" he wondered.

_She looked over the cluttered desk and shook her head. _

"I'm just trying to get some ideas done up for Carol Lockwood's masquerade dress so I can present them to her as soon as possible," she explained. "I needed a break anyways."

_Grayson babbled to her in response. _

"Yes, I did need a break," she replied to Grayson cheerfully. "Thank you for coming to visit me."

_He inhaled and exhaled deeply, knowing that now was his window of opportunity to ask her what he had come by to ask her. _

"Perhaps you'd like to join the two of us for some late lunch?" he heard himself asking.

_She sighed almost disappointedly and that unnerved him. _

"I would, but I already ate earlier," she frowned.

"You forgot your lunch?" he questioned.

"Damon stopped by with some," she said, almost reluctantly.

_He felt his entire mood dampen and his body slink back dejectedly. _

"Oh really?" he said, only making a half-assed attempt to conceal his sarcasm.

_So that's what Camille had meant about Caroline's male admirers. _

"Yeah, he wanted to thank me for letting him stay at my apartment," she explained.

_He groaned inwardly. That wasn't all Damon Salvatore wanted, he thought. _

_She sighed and looked at Grayson. _

"It's too bad, I would have loved to go on a date with you this afternoon," she cooed to Grayson.

_Yes of course, she was referring to Grayson. _

"Maybe we can reschedule, little guy?" she suggested to Grayson.

_She looked over at him. _

"Sure, we'll do it another time," he relented, finding himself unable to refuse her. "I should probably get Grayson home for his afternoon nap anyways."

_She nodded. _

"I'll be home in time to go to Grayson's swim lesson," she reminded him. "I'll see you then," she said happily.

"See you then," he said, mustering a small smile despite the sudden and overwhelming vengeful urges he had to never speak to her again and strangle Damon with his bare hands.

* * *

**Next time on Tangled Up in Blue: Klaus and Caroline take Grayson to his swim lesson and have trouble keeping their eyes off of one another, and a trip to the Grill afterwards results in some interesting encounters with familiar faces. Thoughts? **

**I'm a couple thousand words into the next chapter. I hope to have another update sooner than later. **

**Review me in the meantime, maybe? **

**P.S. did you guys hear that an episode of The Originals is going to be called "Tangled Up in Blue"? Should I laugh or cry?**


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N: I'm back earlier than expected and I come bearing a lovely (I hope) gift for you! Thank you so much for all your reviews last chapter. TUIB now has over 850 reviews and that's only with fourteen chapters. That's crazy! **

**This early update wouldn't have been possible without my lovely beta, livingdeadblondegirl, putting aside her time to get it edited. **

**The following chapter is a long one, so I hope you aren't too exhausted by the end to tell me what you think, because I'm very curious to know.**

* * *

_He took Grayson with him into the men's change room, while Caroline headed for the women's. They could have utilized the family change room, but they were both reluctant even entertaining the idea, so he offered to take Grayson, since they were running late as it was, and he knew Caroline would take just as much time changing as Grayson would. _

_There were a few other men in the change room, but there was only one other with a baby. It made him feel a little self-conscious, but he shrugged it off and entered one of the private stalls to get Grayson ready. _

_To his relief, he was able to get Grayson changed into his swim shorts and miniature blue and grey wetsuit without much trouble and little protest from Grayson himself. _

_Having forgotten to check before they left, he was also relieved to find that Elijah's swim shorts were an acceptable fit. _

_Grayson waited patiently in his carrier as he gathered up their things, all of which they were allowed to bring on the pool deck to make things easier for parents - caregivers - and babies attending the lessons. _

"Ready to go, mate?" he asked Grayson as they stepped out of the stall.

_Elijah had informed him during one of their last Skype conversations that Grayson was quite the water baby, and that had certainly been confirmed by Grayson in the bath, but he was still a little reluctant. _

_He hoped Caroline would be ready so he wouldn't have to wait alone. His comfort level with Grayson had grown, but he still felt awkward around other parents and children, which is why he never hung around Grayson's daycare for long after picking him up. _

_When they exited the change room for the pool deck, he scanned the area for any sign of Caroline. _

"Perfect timing," he heard her bubbly voice declare from behind them.

_He turned around to see her emerge from the women's change room and his eyes immediately did a shameless double take. _

_It dawned on him that this had been the least amount of clothing he had seen her in since...since that night they spent together at the hotel after Elijah and Elena's wedding. _

_The lack of clothing only assured him further that she hadn't changed much. Her body was still as flawlessly beautiful as he remembered it. _

_Her bare legs seem to extend for miles and the suit teased just a bit of cleavage. _

_He admired the way in which the swimsuit she was wearing left some room for his imagination to wander, but still hugged the curves of her torso in all the right places. _

_He felt a stirring between his legs as he lost himself in the sight of her and his desire to peel the suit from her body. _

_Reminding himself of where he was and the circumstances between him and Caroline, he was brought back to reality. _

"Yeah," he replied to her initial comment.

_Caroline looked away from him sheepishly. _

"Grayson looks so cute in his little wet suit. I wanna take a picture," she said, reaching into her bag for her phone.

_She snapped the photo and they both laughed as Grayson seemed to pose for the shot. _

"So, I think Grayson is going to be a model when he's older," Caroline laughed as she put her phone away.

_He chuckled and nodded in agreement. _

"You got his swim shorts and wet suit on okay?" she inquired as they headed over to the group of parents and babies already present.

"It wasn't too difficult. It helped that Grayson was cooperative," he conceded. "I think he wanted it on. He seems excited to be here," he said noticing that Grayson had seemed happier and more spirited than usual.

"That's good," Caroline said. "I'm probably more nervous than he is," she admitted.

_He'd be lying if he said he wasn't a little nervous about getting in the pool with Grayson, too. That said, he was actually kind of excited to see how Grayson would act and respond to the water since he enjoyed it so much at home. _

_Glancing around, he studied the other parents. _

_It was a relief to see a few guys present. He was worried this class was going to be mostly women and that's why he had been reluctant to attend with Caroline in the first place, though Caroline assured him that Elena and Elijah had selected a class that stressed the attendance of both parents. _

_Regardless, he still felt like he didn't belong here. He didn't feel like he or Caroline belonged here. He felt like an imposter, and he became even more self-conscious of that fact as a few people looked at them curiously. _

_They were new faces, and he was sure that most of them were aware of what happened to Elijah and Elena. This was a small town, people talked. _

_He and Caroline both nodded politely to the group as they waited for the class to begin. _

_It surprised him to see the number of different people present. Some parents looked closer in age to his parents, others looked his age, while a few looked younger. On that comparison alone, he supposed that they fit in, they just weren't Grayson's biological parents and the relationship they had with one another was somewhat unorthodox. _

_He noticed a middle aged female approach the group, who he assumed to be the instructor based upon the suit she was wearing with the community centre's logo on the front. _

"Welcome back everyone," the instructor announced. "We have a few new faces joining us this week, so I'd like to introduce myself again. My name is Karen and I've been a swim instructor here now for almost ten years. And since we have a few new people here joining us from other class times and we're all coming back from a few week's break, I'd like to make this class a bit of a review of the things that I've already introduced," she said. "This will be a great opportunity to reinforce past classes and see what we've all retained."

_They spent the first few minutes outside of the pool as the instructor went over various topics including pool rules, hygiene, and water safety. She also demonstrated the proper ways to hold babies in the water and went over how to safely enter and exit the pool. _

"You go in first," Caroline murmured to him, clearly anxious as the parents began to line up near the pool edge.

"We're going to do the slip in," the instructor announced. "If your baby is capable of freely sitting safely on the edge, you're welcome to slip in on your own keeping in mind the way to enter safely while still ensuring your baby's safety on the pool deck. If not, one of you should hold your little one at the edge, while the other slips into the pool according to our safe entry guidelines."

_Neither of them had any idea whether or not Grayson could sit safely at the edge or not, so Caroline took Grayson from him and sat him at the edge of the pool deck while she held her hands guardedly at his sides. _

_He slipped into the pool without issue, pleased that the water was at a comfortable temperature and only reached the middle of his torso, ensuring that his tattoo would not be submerged. _

"Now, you're going to help your babies slip into the pool. Support them under their arms, and ease them into the pool like this when I say to," the instructor said, demonstrating the activity with a baby doll.

_Caroline practically shot him a death glare, as if to warn him to be careful as he reached up from the pool and slipped his hands under Grayson's arms. _

"We want to make this enjoyable for them, so remember the Humpty Dumpty song," the instructor said.

_He laughed sarcastically, garnering a few looks from the other parents. _

"I'm not singing," he protested.

_Caroline snorted. _

"We want to make this enjoyable for him," she countered.

_He rolled his eyes. _

"Fine, I'll sing," Caroline relented.

_On the instructor's cue, Caroline began the song, along with the other parents, much to both his and Grayson's amusement. Once the part about the great fall was reached, he brought Grayson down into the pool with him. _

"Encourage your babies and perhaps entertain them by blowing bubbles in the water to get them comfortable being in the water with you," the instructor suggested.

_Grayson didn't seem to need encouragement, his enthusiastic baby noises seemed to confirm that he was pleased to finally be in the water. _

"We're going to try this once more, and then you and your significant other will switch places so that the other has the opportunity to practice," the instructor announced.

_He could sense the discomfort between him and Caroline at the mention of 'significant other.' He supposed in the context of raising Grayson, they were significant others, just not in the sense the instructor had implied. _

_They repeated it once more, and then Caroline slipped into the pool for her turn with Grayson; every time, Grayson protested his removal from the water. _

_Caroline blew bubbles in the water with Grayson as they waited for further direction. Grayson's amused shriek seemed to echo throughout the room. _

"Parents remaining on the pool deck can now join the rest of us in the pool," the instructor told them.

_He slipped back in the pool beside Caroline and Grayson. _

"Now we want you and your little ones to face the wall. Encourage them or help them hold onto it if they can't on their own yet. The wall is a point of safety. It is important to reinforce this if ever your child falls into the water unexpectedly," the instructor explained.

_At the instructor's request, they then turn turns supporting Grayson in a back float away from and then back to the wall to emphasize it as a safety point. _

_After that, they were all instructed to form a large circle. _

_He knew more group songs were coming and he scowled, taking Grayson while Caroline agreed to be their singer. _

_They went through a song that introduced each of the baby's names, lifting them up and down in the water when their names were called, while the other babies were glided through the water. _

_Next was a song about motorboats and he couldn't help but laugh immaturely while Caroline attempted to give him a chastising look. _

_He blew the bubbles and encouraged Grayson lower into the water to mimic his actions while Caroline sang. _

"Good job!" they both said in unison when Grayson managed to produce a few bubbles.

_After Grayson got the hang of it, the bubbles from him were endless as he immersed himself in the new form of entertainment. _

_He couldn't remember the last time he had laughed or smiled this much._

* * *

_She watched, excitedly and worriedly against the edge of the pool as Klaus stood a few feet away with Grayson. Klaus was to help him float and swim towards her while she encouraged Grayson forwards with a bright yellow rubber duck - much like the one he had for bath time at home. _

_Though Grayson looked like he was having the time of his life, she remained anxious, especially when he and Klaus seemed so far away from her. _

_As the instructor demonstrated the way to help the babies float and swim on their stomachs, she tried to settle herself and avoid thinking of all the possible worst case scenarios. Klaus would be holding Grayson. It's not like they were letting him go to try and swim on his own. _

"If he lets go of her, I'm going to kill him," the mother standing next to her said of her husband, as if to read her mind completely.

_She laughed lightly at the coincidence as the instructor requested that they start the activity, which also incorporated into it the 'red light, green light' game. As if Grayson couldn't get to her fast enough, the instructor had to have Klaus stop and bounce Grayson in the water several times before they would reach her. Her anxiety was already high enough as it was. _

_Doing her best to fake an excited expression for Grayson's sake, she called to him encouragingly with the duck in her hand as he and Klaus moved forwards. _

_Although she was nervous, she delighted at the sight of Grayson moving his arms and legs as if to imitate the movements necessary to swim. _

"Grayson, come see me," she called once the instructor announced another green light.

_Klaus and Grayson got closer, with Grayson set upon the sight of the yellow duck. _

_She began to relax as they neared her, even despite Klaus jokingly murmuring the theme to Jaws on their approach. _

"Good boy," she said to Grayson, letting him grasp the yellow duck in his hands.

_The duck instantly went to his mouth. _

"Commence to eat your prize," Klaus laughed as Grayson's mouth clamped over the duck's beak.

_She looked over briefly at the woman and her husband beside her who now had their daughter closely between them as she too munched on her toy. _

_In the split second of her attention being averted, that's when Grayson's duck slipped from his hand and his face submerged into the water as he went to reach for it from Klaus's grasp. _

_Her eyes widened in horror as Klaus promptly raised Grayson under his arms from the water. _

"Oh my god!" she panicked. "Why did you let him reach like that? You should have got the duck for him," she stammered to Klaus as she quickly inspected Grayson for any sign of distress.

_Grayson began to giggle as he rubbed his hands over his wet face. _

"Calm down, Caroline," Klaus chuckled. "It was an accident; he couldn't keep his head up like that. He's fine," he assured her.

"He could have drowned!" she lamented.

"I think you're being dramatic, love," Klaus said as Grayson seemed to tip his face back down towards the water. "See? It looks like he wants to do it again."

"He's okay," the instructor said from behind Klaus. "It's important to focus on his reaction. If he's not panicking, you shouldn't either. Chances are, if he sees you panicking, he'll respond to that; monkey see, monkey do," she told them. "He seems to be all right with submersion, so perhaps we could try it some more later," the instructor said before moving along in the water to the other parents.

_Klaus glared at her victoriously as she seethed in her defeat. _

_They repeated the swim once more, only with her being the one to support Grayson and Klaus being the one to hold the duck this time. _

_Once they made it to Klaus with no issue, the instructor encouraged a few moments of free play with the toy while she took some more time to address the concerns of individual parents. _

_It seemed, however, that Grayson was less interested in the toy now, and more interested in the baby beside them. _

_His attention was entirely focused upon her and not even Klaus taunting him with the duck to garner his attention would work. _

_She could feel his little body struggling in her grasp in an effort to move towards the little girl. _

"I think someone wants to see you Sophie," the other mother mused, encouraging Grayson by bringing her baby closer.

_She watched with bated breath as Grayson reached out to touch Sophie's face. _

"He's quite the flirt," Sophie's mother observed while Grayson and Sophie began to laugh at one another.

"Come back when she's thirty, little guy," Sophie's father piped up.

_They all chuckled at the comment. _

"How old is she now?" she asked, making polite conversation.

"She's ten months," the woman replied.

"High-five, buddy, going after the older girls," Klaus smirked.

_She scoffed while Sophie's parents found Klaus's comment hilarious. _

"It's too cute," Sophie's mother awed, just as Grayson began to splash, getting Sophie's face wet.

"No, no, Grayson, no splashing," she said sternly, pulling Grayson back a little.

_That's when Sophie retaliated and splashed her hands down against the water enthusiastically. _

_Grayson squealed in response. _

"Don't dish it out if you can't take it," Klaus chuckled to Grayson. "Looks like she's making you work for it," he laughed.

"Just like her mother," the father snorted with amusement, garnering him a scowl from his wife.

"Like all women," Klaus snickered, staring at her from the corner of his eye.

_She tensed, shooting him a quick glare before looking away awkwardly. _

"It's probably a good thing," he added.

"As far as my daughter is concerned, it is," the father agreed.

_They watched curiously for a few more moments as the babies seemed to be talking with one another. _

"Where does your son get his dark hair from?" the mother asked, looking at both of them, clearly referring to their light hair.

"Oh," she said somewhat bewildered. "He's not ours...biologically," she answered.

_This couple was obviously dropping in on this class timeslot and knew nothing about Elijah and Elena. _

_The mother gave them a knowing look. _

"Oh! So you adopted? That's so sweet," the mother gushed, "and it completely explains your amazing body."

_She laughed, going along with the mother's assumptions. Correcting her would take too long. _

"Did you have trouble conceiving? Darren and I had trouble, and we were considering adoption, but then Sophie randomly happened," the mother beamed.

_No, she and Klaus did not have trouble conceiving, because they weren't even trying to conceive in the first place. _

"Who knew all it would take was a twenty dollar bottle of tequila," Darren, the father, joked.

_She and Klaus both laughed as Darren was nudged hard in the side by his wife. She was thankful for the comic relief, not wanting to delve into more fabricated details of their lives. _

"Okay, we're going to move on to our next activity," the instructor announced from the other end of the pool.

_She pulled Grayson back from Sophie to give them both space. _

_Grayson protested bitterly, fighting against her hold. _

_He began to scream and her cheeks began to flush with embarrassment as she tried to calm him down. They had been fairly lucky with Grayson in terms of him having meltdowns in public, up until now anyways. _

"Grayson, shhh, we're going to swim some more," she told him enthusiastically, holding up the duck for him to see.

_He thrashed the duck away with his tiny fists. _

"Maybe we should get out of the water?" she wondered to Klaus, noticing some of the annoyed sideways glances she was receiving from other parents as the instructor attempted to speak.

"Let me see him," Klaus offered, taking Grayson from her.

_Grayson didn't leave her arms quietly, however, opting for one final bitter splash of his hands against the water that hit her directly in the face. _

_She gasped and coughed in an effort to rid her mouth of water while Klaus seemed to have more luck consoling Grayson than she did. _

_Why was it always her who faced the wrath of Grayson's splashing? _

"Are you all right, sweetheart?" Klaus wondered as bounced Grayson lightly in the water. "He got you good."

"I'm okay," she nodded, coughing a few more times.

"Good, because I don't know CPR," he smirked.

_She knew his comment was entirely innocent, but her mind instantly wandered over the thought of Klaus having to perform mouth to mouth on her. _

_Realizing her fingers were brushing suggestively over her lips, she quickly pretended to conceal another cough with her hand._

_Her mind was becoming her worst enemy, she thought, looking over at the sight of Klaus and Grayson. _

_Any anger she harboured towards the seven month old began to dissipate seeing him cuddled against Klaus's chest while Klaus talked him down quietly. _

_The heartwarming feeling she felt watching them together was undeniable. _

_She smiled appreciatively when Klaus looked over at her. _

_For the remainder of the class, they practiced a few more swim techniques before moving onto a song that encouraged gradually getting the babies' hair and face wet as a means to build them up to submerging them underwater - something she was grateful would not be taking place during this lesson. Grayson accidentally submerging his face was enough for her to deal with this week. _

_They finished out the lesson with two more songs. "If You're Happy and You Know It," was one, and "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star," finished up the lesson as a way to calm and relax the babies before they exited the pool. _

_She had Grayson for the last song, but it did to do nothing to relax him. All he seemed to want to do was move and splash around in the water. _

_It was her hope that all this energy now would amount to exhaustion later for bedtime. Getting to sleep in on a Saturday before she went into work at noon would be amazing, she thought. _

_After the instructor went over safe pool exits, the parents and babies headed for the pool edge. _

_Klaus climbed out of the pool first, and she handed Grayson to him before climbing out herself. _

_Surprisingly, Grayson didn't object to getting out of the pool. _

_They went to retrieve their things off to the side. _

_She quickly took Grayson back from Klaus to wrap him in a towel to dry him off and warm him up a bit before they went to change. _

_Klaus rummaged through the bag to retrieve more towels as she sat down with Grayson on the bench. _

"Do you want a towel?" Klaus offered her.

_She shook her head. _

"I'm fine," she told him. "I can wait for the change room."

_That's when Klaus stepped forward and opened a towel, draping it over her back despite her assurances. _

"You're shivering," he noted, as she looked up at him questioningly.

_She glanced down at her arms and noticed the goose bumps. _

"Thank you," she replied, grabbing the edges of the towel with one hand while she held Grayson in her lap with the other.

_He nodded as he opened another towel and began to dry himself off. _

_With him preoccupied by the sight of older kids receiving lessons on the diving boards at the far end of the pool, she allowed herself a moment to take in the sight of him as he patted his hair dry, then his arms, chest, and stomach. He was leaner than Damon, but she liked that. Too much defined muscle unnerved her a little, something she supposed had to do with Tyler. _

_When she found herself staring a little too interestedly at the indents of his hips and the faint hair below his navel, she forced her eyes upwards, pausing for a moment to admire his tattoo, before wandering back up to his face. _

_She really had to stop this bad habit of hers; it might have been innocent, but she didn't want to give him any ideas, let alone herself. _

_Still, she had to admit that he was gorgeous; his eyes, his lips, the slight curl to his damp hair, his dimples, all worked simultaneously to send a familiar chill throughout her body. _

_God, this was dangerous and wrong. _

_She hated that he still had the same effect on her. She hated that her fondness for him only seemed to grow with every passing day she spent with him and Grayson. _

_Seeing Klaus with Grayson was beginning to change how she saw him. It was stripping away her jaded opinion of him, regardless of how many times she reminded herself of their history, or his current fling with Vicki. _

_She had to remind herself constantly that his affinity for Grayson was not necessarily indicative of how he could be with her. All she had to rely on was her past experience with him, and in her past experience, he had treated her carelessly. She couldn't let herself be drawn in again, especially now for Grayson's sake. _

_His eyes met hers and she grew a little flustered, as though he had caught her in the act. _

"What?" he inquired.

_She shrugged. _

"Just thinking," she shrugged.

"About?" he wondered.

_She sighed in annoyance under her breath, knowing he would pry. _

"You were really good with Grayson in the water," she said, knowing that had been one of the only innocent things to cross her mind. "You've been really good with him period," she told him.

_This seemed to placate his curiosity as a satisfied and confident smile appeared on his lips. _

"That's only because I have a good teacher," he concluded, peering down at her.

* * *

_Since Klaus had been thinking proactively, and had packed food and extra diapers for Grayson, they decided to stop at the Grill for something to eat. The swimming lesson, though for babies, had been exhausting, especially after her long day at work. Neither of them felt like cooking. _

_Friday night was becoming their 'cheat' night, it seemed. She had brought home Chinese food last Friday night for them to eat. _

_Matt was at the front when they entered. _

_The prospect of seeing more familiar faces prompted her to second guess their decision to eat out. Perhaps they should have just grabbed take out and left. _

"Hey, it's good to see you," Matt said, more to her than to Klaus, which she suspected either had to do with the fact that Klaus hadn't really talked to Matt when they were here last, or because he was aware that Klaus was messing around with his sister. "Hey there, little guy," Matt said especially to Grayson, who was perched on her forearm, looking around the restaurant alertly.

"Hey, it's nice to see you, too," she replied politely. "Can we get a table?" she wondered, noticing how busy the restaurant was.

"No problem," Matt said, picking up two menus from the front desk. "Highchair, too?" he asked.

"That would be great," she told him, as they followed him to an empty table.

_As they headed for their table, she couldn't help but notice a couple stares they received from other patrons. Most of them were vaguely familiar faces, and she knew all of them were familiar with Elijah and Elena. That's why they were staring. They knew the details of the accident, and through word of mouth, they were aware of the details of Grayson's custody: Caroline Forbes, Elena's best friend, and Niklaus Mikaelson, Elijah's brother, would be granted temporary custody of their son, though they themselves were not romantically involved. She could almost hear their whispers, wondering how they would make it work. Why did people have to be so nosey? _

_She set her bag and Grayson's bag down on one of the chairs while Klaus removed his jacket quietly. _

"I'll grab you a highchair, and your server will be out to grab you some drinks," Matt informed them.

_Klaus took Grayson for her so that she could remove her coat. _

"Well, that was a little awkward," she snorted as she took a seat across from Klaus. "He doesn't seem to like you much," she added, waiting for Klaus to reply.

_Klaus shrugged innocently and picked up one of the menus Matt had left behind as she stared at him expectantly. _

"Okay, so I might have had a run in with him last weekend when I was leaving Vicki's," he confessed.

_She raised her eyebrow nosily, wanting to know more. _

"It was like two in the morning. I was catching a cab and he was just getting in from work. He didn't really say anything to me, except nod as we walked in opposite directions," he revealed.

"He must be used to her bringing guys home then," she scoffed, pleased that she was able to sneak in that little jab about Klaus's bartender conquest.

_Klaus knew she had a point and bit his tongue as their waitress arrived and introduced herself. _

_She ordered ice water, while Klaus opted for imported beer. She also requested some hot water so that she could make Grayson up a bottle. _

"One drink won't hurt," Klaus piped up as their waitress disappeared.

"I usually only drink if it's wine with food, or I plan on getting buzzed," she revealed, picking up her menu.

"Get buzzed then," Klaus laughed. "I can drive us home."

"I'm going to the store tomorrow to get some more work done," she reasoned.

_Klaus groaned. _

"You work too much," he told her.

"I have to," she shrugged. "And as long as you don't mind taking care of Grayson Saturday afternoons, then I'm going to keep working Saturdays."

_Matt soon appeared with their drinks and a highchair for Grayson. _

"Here's your throne, man," Matt chuckled, setting the chair down.

"Thanks," she said as Klaus stood to fix Grayson in the chair.

"No problem," he smiled at her, glancing quickly at Klaus, before heading for the back of the restaurant.

_Closing her menu, she hoped the cheeseburger tasted the same as it once did now that the Grill was under new management. _

_She was just about to reach into Grayson's bag for something to distract him with, when their waitress returned with their drinks. _

_They ordered their food then, too. While she ordered the cheeseburger, Klaus ordered the double cheeseburger. _

"Show off," she teased, as the waitress finished writing down their orders.

"That swimming lesson worked up my appetite," Klaus said in his defense, as the waitress began to head for another table.

"If it worked up your appetite, then Grayson must be starving," she concluded, going to reach for Grayson's bag as she noticed the waitress was back at their table again.

"Sorry to bother you, but do you know Vicki Donovan?" the waitress asked hesitantly, clearly looking to Klaus for an answer.

_Klaus nodded as she began to prep Grayson's bottle. _

"She's working behind the bar tonight. She told me to tell you to stop over for a drink later," their waitress said.

"I can't make any promises," he replied indifferently.

_With that, the waitress left their table and headed for the bar. _

_She rolled her eyes and looked discreetly over in that direction to see Vicki peering over at them from behind the bar. _

_For a few split seconds she began to compare herself to the bartender. _

_Vicki's light brunette hair was perfectly styled in waves, while hers was stashed up in a messy bun and in desperate need of a salon. Vicki's skin looked sun-kissed, while hers was porcelain - too stubborn to darken from the sun or from a tanning bed. Vicki's makeup looked perfectly done, while she was barely wearing any. Vicki was wearing a sexy tight black v-neck t-shirt, while she was wearing a frumpy long-sleeved shirt, and she was certain Vicki had larger breasts than she did, but she couldn't be sure unless she felt like asking Klaus...and that would make for a very awkward conversation. _

_Scowling at how pathetic she felt, she looked away and handed Grayson his bottle. _

"I guess your girlfriend misses you," she said to Klaus sarcastically.

_He glared at her. _

"She's not my girlfriend," he denied flatly before taking a drawn out sip of his beer.

"Then what is she?" she challenged_. _

"She's nothing, an acquaintance, I suppose," he answered nonchalantly. "I thought we agreed we were going to keep our personal lives separate?"

_His response intrigued her, prompting her to wonder what she was to him? What did he consider her to be in his life? An acquaintance? A friend? _

_She simply nodded, knowing better than to press the issue. His personal life was his personal life. So long as it wasn't affecting Grayson, she wasn't going to interrogate him any further over it. It wasn't her place. She was definitely not his girlfriend. _

_Though for some reason, she couldn't help but wonder how she compared to Vicki. After all, Klaus had returned to Vicki for seconds, so that had to mean something. _

"I feel like Vicki isn't the only one staring at us," she noted self-consciously, looking around the restaurant and meeting the curious gaze of those familiar faces she had seen when they first walked in.

_Klaus followed her lead and let his eyes wander around the room. _

"Maybe you're just paranoid, love?" he laughed.

"You're in a small town, remember. Practically everyone knows everyone. They know who we are," she assured him.

_Klaus took a second look before tossing his hands down against the table. _

"Maybe we should charge admission or something?" he joked. "What's so interesting about this?" he wondered.

"I guess tragedy makes people curious," she conceded. "Plus us raising Grayson is sort of unconventional," she acknowledged.

_He tossed his hands down against the table. _

"Well, who needs CPS when you live in Mystic Falls?" he mused.

_She let out a restrained laugh at Klaus's assertion. He raised a good point. _

"Perhaps you should order a bottle of vodka for yourself to give them something to talk about?" Klaus suggested mirthfully.

_She smirked as the scenario played out in her mind. _

"That would go over well," she snorted. "I'm sure the sheriff would be here in minutes."

"Clearly, they have nothing better to do," he muttered.

"I just wish they'd be a little less obvious about it," she complained.

_Klaus shrugged and took another drink of his beer. _

"No sense in worrying over it, sweetheart. Just ignore them," he advised.

_She nodded. _

"So what did Rebekah have to say when you talked?" she wondered curiously, eager to take her mind off the eyes she could feel on them.

"My parents have been quiet about contesting our guardianship. They haven't said anything to her, probably because they know she'll tell me. Other than that, she's trying to convince me to plan a trip to England once we have permanent custody," he laughed.

"Well, we'll be sharing custody of Grayson at that point, so if you'd like to take Grayson to visit your sister then, I don't have any objections," she told him.

_Klaus shook his head. _

"Rebekah wants you to come too, since you've never been," he clarified.

_She considered the idea and how much fun it would surely be, but she was reluctant. Of course, she wanted to remain as connected to Klaus as possible once he returned to New York and they split time with Grayson, and she assumed there would be things they would both be involved in, but she wondered if a 'family' trip to England was pushing it. _

_That said, she'd always wanted to go to England, but she wasn't someone who wanted to travel alone. This could be her only opportunity. _

"We would have to wait and see what happens with the final custody hearing, and where we're at then," she said guardedly. "I don't want to make plans we can't follow through on."

"That's what I told her," he assured her.

"If things don't go our way and your parents get involved, Grayson could be taking a permanent trip to England without us," she sighed solemnly.

_She looked over at Grayson, who was busy with his bottle, and brushed the hair atop his head lovingly. _

"Hey," Klaus said warningly, capturing her attention, "we can't think like that."

_She knew he was right, and she had been doing so well not letting her mind drift to that place of worry constantly, but sometimes she couldn't help it. Sometimes this pessimism consumed her. _

"I know," she agreed, staring back at him determinedly.

_Klaus nodded in acknowledgement. _

"Anyways, in the meantime, Bekah is going to see if she can make a trip here during the summer while Kol is in New York. In a few weeks Kol will be here already," he said, realizing that May was just around the corner.

"That would be nice," she thought, knowing it would be good for Grayson to spend time with other family members.

_A trip to New York would also be a great opportunity to spend some time with Bonnie. That said, she wasn't sure if she could afford the time off work, especially when it would likely come in the middle of her busiest season. _

"So, what else did you two do today?" she asked curiously after taking a sip from her glass of water.

"Skyping with Rebekah and the trip out to the grocery store was about it," Klaus told her. "Grayson took two long naps today."

_She looked at Grayson's wide eyes worriedly. _

"Let's hope he'll sleep tonight then," she said.

"I found Elijah's journals today," Klaus piped up suddenly.

"What?" she asked confused.

"When I was looking for a pair of shorts to wear, I found his journals at the bottom of his dresser," he said.

_Biting her lip anxiously, she tried to decipher Klaus's expression. She couldn't tell if he was happy or upset about the discovery. She was surprised he had even told her. _

_She knew Elijah kept a journal, so did Elena. She guessed it was only a matter of time before they stumbled across them. _

"Did you read them?" she wondered.

_He shook his head quickly. _

"No...Grayson woke up from his nap before I could," he explained, falling quiet for a few seconds. "Truthfully, I don't know if I should or not," he admitted in contemplation. "Those journals belong to Elijah. They're his private thoughts."

_She nodded understandingly. _

"It's up to you," she told him. "If Elijah didn't want them to be read, he would have stressed that in the will. He wanted them to go to Grayson."

"They'll be invaluable to Grayson one day," Klaus assumed. "That's the only way he'll know his father."

"He'll have you, too," she reassured him.

"Not necessarily," he sighed.

"Who's being negative now?" she countered.

_He shook his head guiltily and sat back in his chair. _

"Like I said, if your brother didn't want you to read what he wrote, he would have stated that in the will. Besides, even if he didn't, I don't think he would blame you for wanting to maintain a connection to him. You two were very close. I'm sure there's nothing written there that you don't already know on some level. If he believed he could trust you with Grayson, then I'm sure he knew he could trust you with his thoughts," she said, attempting to ease his mind

"Maybe you're right," he acknowledged.

"Grayson will read them one day," she said. "He'll read them and he'll have questions, questions he'll come to you to answer. It might be wise to read them now and prepare yourself for that," she recommended.

_Klaus seemed to consider what she was saying carefully. _

"Ironically, I'm hoping those journals can answer my questions," Klaus said cryptically.

_She arched a questioning eyebrow at him, unsure about what he meant. _

"Caroline!" Mrs. Lockwood's chipper voice said from behind her, interrupting Klaus before he could respond.

_Looking over her shoulder, she saw Carol and Richard Lockwood rounding the table behind Grayson's highchair. _

"Hi," she said, a little stunned to see them here on a Friday night.

_The Lockwoods usually dined in fancier restaurants, but every now and then, she supposed the Mayor and his wife saw it necessary to eat with their constituents and maintain their public presence. _

"What a pleasant surprise," Carol said, her eyes wandering around the table. "I was hoping to run into you. I stopped by your store today, but you had already left."

_Of course, just the time she left early, Carol Lockwood would decide to pay her a visit. _

"I'm sorry I missed you," she apologized. "Klaus and I had to take Grayson to his swim lesson."

_Carol's eyes brightened as she looked down at Grayson. _

"You did!?" she exclaimed in a baby voice. "Did you go swimming?" she asked Grayson.

_Grayson stared up at her for a few moments but was too preoccupied with his bottle to focus anymore of his attention on her. _

"That's so precious," Carol awed. "They never had swimming lessons for babies like that when you and Tyler were young."

_She winced at her mention of Tyler. _

"He's definitely gotten bigger," Richard observed about Grayson.

"And even more handsome," Carol said, lightly pinching one of Grayson's cheeks. "Have you been adjusting all right?" she inquired.

_She nodded. _

"It's been a bit of a challenge," she admitted. "But Klaus and I have a bit of a routine worked out now. It helps that there's two of us."

_Carol glanced at Klaus warily. _

"I bet," Carol replied. "Anyways, I stopped by your store earlier because I wanted to check in on the dress progress. I was hoping you'd have something to show me," she explained.

"I do," she affirmed, disappointed that she had missed the opportunity this afternoon to show Carol her ideas.

_That's when she noticed her bag on the chair. Her sketches from work were still in her bag since she hadn't had time to unload her things at the house before they had to leave for Grayson's swimming lesson. _

"Actually, my sketchbook is in my bag," she informed Carol, reaching anxiously into her bag for the finished drawings.

_She set it out on the table and flipped to the drawing she had worked on today. _

"These are the ideas I had in mind," she said self-consciously as everyone's eyes peered down at her work, including Klaus's. "Typically, when you think 'masquerade' you think large bustled ball gowns, but I think a sophisticated evening gown would compliment you better," she delivered her spiel.

_There were three options to be considered: a deep plum coloured dress with a high neckline, open back, with embellishments around the collar; a more conservative champagne gown with sleeves and a square neckline; and a deep green dress with a scoop neckline. _

"The colours are optional, and we can mix and match styles if you want," she told Carol.

"Oh Caroline, these are beautiful dresses. Are you sure you'll be able to create one in time?" Carol wondered.

"It will be my primary focus, so as long as you make a decision soon, yes, it should be done in time for the fundraiser," she confirmed.

"I like the back of this one," Richard said, pointing to the plum one, with a devilish glint in his eye.

_Carol rolled her eyes. _

"Of course," Carol said sarcastically. "I like the champagne one. The colour and the dress are elegant and refined. That's what I want," Carol concluded.

_Carol Lockwood would pick the one that would be the most work, she sighed to herself. _

"I should get a say in this since I'm paying for it," Richard protested.

_Carol glared at Richard disapprovingly. _

"What do you think?" Carol asked Klaus, who had only been paying attention absently.

_Klaus raised his eyebrows and scanned the drawings. _

_She looked at Klaus pleadingly, hoping he would affirm Carol's decision - otherwise they would be here forever trying to make a choice. _

"The champagne gown," he confirmed.

_Carol's expression lit up immediately. _

_She sighed in relief. _

"The champagne one, Caroline. Let's go with that one," Carol said, talking over her husband's objections.

"Well, that was easy," she said. "If you don't mind coming back to the store tomorrow, I can re-take your measurements and show you some materials so I can get started."

"That sounds perfect," Carol said excitedly, clapping her hands together. "I can't wait for the fundraiser. It's going to be such a great evening."

_She nodded as she pushed her sketchbook aside, in hopes that now Carol had made a decision, the Lockwoods would leave for their own table. _

"Oh! Caroline! Tyler is coming home for it!" Carol announced. "He didn't make it home at Christmas because that fiancé of his convinced him to pay for a ski trip to Aspen, but now that she's out of the picture, maybe we'll be seeing a bit more of him."

_Her stomach curled and she felt herself grow lightheaded. _

"Tyler and Hayley broke up? I didn't even know they were engaged," she said, feeling utterly dumbfounded.

"It's not really something Richard and I talked about, since we were hoping it would be called off," Carol admitted.

"And luckily, it has been," Richard said.

"Hayley was cheating on him," Carol winced. "I told him she would break his heart."

_The revelation that Tyler had been cheated on gave her a feeling of vindication. Although she wouldn't wish that pain on anyone who didn't deserve it, she was pleased Tyler had been given a taste of his own medicine. _

"Coming back here that weekend will give him a chance to clear his mind a little," Carol concluded. "I'm sure he'd love to accompany you to the fundraiser, Caroline. He understands, now more than ever, how much he hurt you, and he truly does feel remorseful. It would be great if you two had a second chance," she overstepped.

_She tensed uncomfortably. _

"Going with him would in no way excuse his past behaviour," Carol added. "But maybe it would help you two reconnect."

"I'm sorry," she said, "but I have a date."

_Everyone, including Klaus, looked at her suspiciously. _

"Klaus?" Carol wondered.

_She looked at Klaus hesitantly, knowing what his reaction would be to her mystery date. _

"Damon Salvatore, actually," she told them.

_All three of them looked unimpressed, Klaus especially. _

"Oh, he never mentioned anything to me when I met with him this morning," Carol pointed out.

"He just asked me this afternoon," she explained.

"That's unfortunate," Carol sighed. "Not that you're going with Damon," she recovered quickly, "but I was hoping you and Tyler would have an opportunity to spend some time together."

"I'm sorry," she apologized, even though she didn't really see a reason to.

_Richard shook his head. _

"Don't be sorry. Tyler has no one to blame but himself," Richard assured her.

_She smiled appreciatively at Richard. He was always more level headed when it came to her past relationship with Tyler. _

_As if perfectly timed, their waitress returned with their food. _

"We'll let you two eat. I'll see you tomorrow, Caroline," Carol said, her mood now visibly dampened. "It was nice to see you Grayson, and Klaus," Carol added as Richard nodded in agreement.

"Likewise," Klaus said, feigning a smile as the Lockwoods disappeared to a table.

_There was a stifling silence between them as they inspected their burgers. _

_She didn't understand why she had dreaded Klaus finding out about her date with Damon. She didn't understand why a part of her felt so guilty. _

_Of what consequence was it to Klaus if she attended the masquerade fundraiser with Damon? _

_Unless he had made plans for the same date and wouldn't be able to take care of Grayson that night, she didn't see how it affected him. _

_She wasn't putting Grayson in any danger, either. So, to her, his negative reaction was a little bit dramatic. _

"So much for not dating Damon Salvatore," Klaus said sarcastically, picking at the garden salad that had accompanied his burger.

_She rolled her eyes and scoffed under her breath at his childish response. _

"It's my personal life," she said suddenly feeling defensive, throwing his earlier remark back at him. "I'm not hurting you or Grayson, so I don't think I have to explain myself."

_Klaus shrugged indifferently. _

"I suppose you're right," he said flatly, taking another swig of his beer.

_She sighed in frustration. She hated when he played passive aggressive games with her. _

"It's nothing romantic," she said, feeling compelled to justify her decision to go with Damon to the fundraiser. "We're going as friends. Neither of us wants to be third wheel to Stefan and Meredith, and Tyler is going to be there, so Damon will be a good buffer," she reasoned.

"You said it yourself, you don't have to explain anything to me," he reminded her.

"I don't," she agreed.

"Then why are you?" he hissed, staring at her intensely.

_He was right. Why did she feel the need to defend her decision to Klaus? Why was she seeking his approval? She didn't need it. _

_His reactions were surprising to her. She hadn't expected this much hostility from him. _

"Why are you being like this?" she challenged. "It's just a date. I don't make any issue about you seeing Vicki. This isn't any different."

_Klaus stared at his food blankly. _

"It's entirely different," he murmured, turning the glass of beer around in his hand.

_She arched her eyebrow, unimpressed with the double standard he seemed to be advancing. _

"How?" she demanded.

"I don't have any false ideas about where things are going with Vicki; I know they're going nowhere. She's a means to an end," he claimed.

"Does she know that?" she interjected, with a little more venom in her voice than she anticipated.

_He nodded confidently and she felt herself wince. _

"With Damon, I think you're a little less sure; you crave something more and there's a part of you who thinks he could give it to you. You question his reputation, and it's that uncertainty that will get you hurt in the end," he told her.

_She felt her throat constrict. _

"I've learned my lesson," she stated.

"Have you?" Klaus's eyes rose to meet hers.

"I had a great teacher," she said bitingly.

_Before Klaus could respond, she was flagging down the waitress. _

"Can I get this to go?" she requested.

_Klaus glared at her as their waitress disappeared for a takeout container. _

"I don't want to be here anymore. I've lost my appetite," she said bitterly.

_The waitress soon returned with an empty container and a single bill. _

_Of course, she would assume that they were together. _

_Klaus sat there, ruminating quietly as she put her untouched food in the container. _

"Caroline..." Klaus started.

"What?" she hissed. "Are you going to tell me to be careful around Damon, or tell me what an asshole he is? Why don't you let me judge for myself? Because so far, Damon's been nothing but nice to me, and the only person being a dick, is you."

_She slung her bag and Grayson's on one shoulder and pulled Grayson out of the highchair. _

_Eyeing the bill on the table, she noticed the teenaged-like handwriting on the bottom. It was a note from Vicki with her phone number at the bottom. _

_Klaus went to stand, but was halted when she leaned down and slid the bill across the table towards him. _

"I think this is for you. Maybe you should take her up on that drink?" she spat before turning on her heel and storming out of the restaurant, too angry to care about the people who might have been staring.

* * *

_He sat at the table for what felt like hours, completely bewildered, trying to figure out when the conversation between him and Caroline had erupted like a volcano and resulted in her prompt evacuation from the scene with Grayson. _

_The swimming lesson, and their dinner out had went smoothly, until he discovered Damon had asked Caroline to be his date to the masquerade fundraiser. _

_It took him by surprise and bothered him more than he knew it should. _

_Why did his blood boil so much at the thought of Damon dating Caroline? Was it because he knew Damon's intentions were less than honourable, or was it something more than that? _

_It felt like something more. _

_As much as he loathed the thought of attending a fundraiser full of stuck up rich people, he knew he would have agreed to go in a heartbeat if Caroline had asked him to go with her. _

_She hadn't, and that fact disappointed him. _

_He wanted to go with her. He didn't want Damon to be her date, because he wanted to be her date. _

_His hurt feelings and resentment towards Damon caused him to overreact. He hurt Caroline's feelings again. It was something he seemed brilliant at. _

_He could hurt her feelings but he could never provoke them. _

_No, Damon was the only one provoking her feelings, apparently. _

_The only thing he was good at was sabotaging any of the positive feelings Caroline might have still harboured towards him. _

_He winced as he replayed their argument in his mind. He accused her of the folly of false hope where Damon was concerned, and she had thrown it back in his face. She didn't need to be warned of the dangers of wishful thinking. He had taught her everything she needed to know. _

_Hanging his head, he sighed guiltily as he dwelled upon her admission. _

_A year ago, she had clung to the possibility of something more with him despite his warnings; she had dared to revel in the fire of uncertainty, and she got burned. He had burned her. He ruined everything the moment he left that hotel room. _

_He regretted it, and he hated that he regretted it. He hated that she had this consuming effect on him, that she could turn him into this lovesick shell of his former self. _

_Getting through the next few months was going to be torture, he thought. _

_It was then that he noticed the sketchbook on the edge of the table that Caroline had left behind. _

_He debated over opening it, but at this point, there wasn't much more he could do to fuck things up further for himself. _

_Seeing the sketches she had produced for Carol Lockwood had intrigued him. He was curious to see her other designs, past and present, even if these were only rough copies. _

_He opened up the book at the back first, since the lose paper containing the designs for Carol's dress were sticking out like a bookmark. _

_Taking a second look at the gowns, he admired them not only for Caroline's creative design abilities, but also her drawing talent. Sketches like these could standalone as artwork in and of themselves. _

_The next page featured small doodles of masquerade masks and what he could only assume were designs for the dress she planned to wear to the event herself. _

_It looked like a modern twist to a gown you would see from the eighteenth or nineteenth century. It appeared to be a deep purple material embroidered with a black pattern. The collar was a low scoop, accentuated with ruffles, and the bustled skirt made of lace as the embroidered material would only reach to her thigh. The three-quarter inch sleeve length, however, was reminiscent of Victorian modesty. It was a unique dress, fit for the occasion, and he knew she would look striking in it. However, it was the design that impressed him most. He was in awe over the fact that she could turn a few simple drawings into a physical production. _

_As much as he liked the dress, he hated the fact that she would be wearing it for Damon. It made his stomach lurch in disgust. _

_He skipped through pages and pages of drawings, some were loose pages inserted at various points, and he was careful not to lose their places. _

_Most were dress designs, although had seen a few designs for baby clothes. _

_Not soon after that, he came across some wedding gown sketches that were practically identical to the dress Elena had worn on her wedding day. _

_The sketches of that dress gave him pause as thoughts of his brother and Elena on that day entered his mind. He remembered their smiles most prominently, and Elijah joking about how he would need help later that night removing Elena's dress. Of course, Kol had offered to lend a hand. _

_Chuckling to himself absently, he flipped back through more pages, stopping when another familiar white dress had caught his eye. _

_Deciding to come to that Valentine's Day singles mixer with Kol here at the Grill had set the entire chain of events in motion. _

_He recalled dreading the idea, wanting only to sit at the bar and drink until he was drunk, that was until he had discovered who he had been paired with. _

_She had captured his attention in high school, though she had been with Lockwood and turned down his empty advances. _

_And, she had recaptured his attention that Valentine's Day. _

_The form-fitting white dress had accentuated all her wonderful curves, her hair had been down - the way he liked it best - while her blue eyes were framed in black and her soft lips were painted red. She had looked magnificent that night. _

_But, it was more than just her looks that had enthralled him so thoroughly - even that first night. _

_He'd actually been disappointed when their hour was up and they had to discontinue their conversation. He enjoyed talking with her. He liked discovering her mind. He loved when she challenged him. _

_The situation had been hopeless for him right from the beginning. _

_One night would never be enough for him when it came to her. _

_Sighing in frustration, he closed the book and carried it with him over to the bar, which was surprisingly packed, despite it being still early. _

_With Vicki occupied by a group of rowdy men at the opposite end from him, he had the other bartender grab him another beer - deciding that beer would be his drink of choice for tonight. _

_Eventually, he had Matt agree to slip Caroline's sketchbook behind the counter for safekeeping. He would grab it from Vicki later. _

_He considered texting Stefan to meet up, but opted against it, deciding that he wanted to be alone with his thoughts tonight. Besides, there was a chance he'd invite Damon along, and Damon was the last person he wanted to see. _

_Another beer later, and he discovered he had spoke too soon. _

"Klaus, I would say, 'what a surprise it is to see you here,' but it really isn't," Damon chuckled, taking a seat beside him.

"Damon, I would say, 'what a joy it is to see you here,' but it really isn't," he retorted sarcastically.

"Awe, come on, don't be like that," Damon laughed, draping an arm over his shoulder, instructing the bartender to fix them up two whiskeys.

_He pushed Damon off of him slightly, trying hard to stifle his annoyance. He didn't want Damon to know there was more to his scathing banter than just their usual playful loathing of one another. _

_While he should have finished his beer and left the bar before he let his anger and frustration get the better of him, he found himself finishing his beer and indulging in the drink Damon had ordered them both. _

"Shouldn't you be at work or something?" he asked Damon.

"Shouldn't you be taking care of a baby or something?" Damon retorted.

_He rolled his eyes. Yes, he probably should have been. Well, Grayson would have already been put to bed nearly two hours ago. _

"I had an appointment this morning, and I decided to play hooky for the rest of the day. I don't have to back in until tomorrow afternoon," Damon bragged proudly.

"So, you decided to spend your free time here?" he snorted.

_Damon shrugged. _

"It's date night at the Salvatore household, so needless to say, I got the boot. I wouldn't want to be around anyways. Come ten o'clock things start to get pretty crazy; some intense cuddling during a chick flick takes place," Damon said jokingly of Stefan and Meredith. "And if this place is good enough for you, then it's good enough for me," Damon proclaimed. "But perhaps I should have stopped by your place to see if Caroline needed a hand with Grayson?" he prodded, intentionally trying to rile him up.

"Caroline is perfectly capable of handling Grayson on her own. You're involvement would spell disaster," he groaned.

"Hey, I'm the doctor," Damon pointed out. "Do you think Caroline is into role playing?" Damon wondered.

_His eyes widened as he choked back his drink. _

"Shut up, Damon," he lamented, trying his best to maintain a jovial expression.

_Damon chuckled. _

"Well it was nice of her to let you have the night off to come down here and get shit-faced," Damon conceded.

_He shot Damon a defensive glare and Damon backed down for a few minutes as they finished their first round of drinks. _

"So, how is domestic life treating you?" Damon inquired, clearly not because he was interested, but because he wanted to mock him.

"It's fine," he sighed.

"It must be kind of a culture shock, you know, going from liquor bottles, women, and the sounds of the city, to baby bottles, diapers, and a screaming kid," Damon supposed.

"It hasn't been that bad actually," he conceded. "Grayson has been great."

_Damon arched an interrogating eyebrow in his direction. _

"Are you going soft on me, Mikaelson?" Damon wondered.

_He shook his head disdainfully, and Damon ordered them some more drinks. _

"I think a congratulatory toast to me is in order," Damon remarked, passing him a glass.

_He looked at Damon confused. _

"Did Caroline tell you she and I had lunch today?" Damon said with a stupid grin on his face, probably hoping this was the first he heard of it.

_He nodded. _

"Then you probably know I scored her as my date to the fundraiser?" Damon wondered giddily.

_He nodded again, even less enthusiastically than the first time. _

_Damon's excited expression began to deflate. _

"Come on, man, I thought you'd be thrilled for me? Where's the 'congratulations'? or the pat on the back?" Damon demanded. "I'm in the process of achieving what you and Stefan thought was impossible?"

"And what's that, exactly?" he questioned, unable to mask the serious tone in his voice.

_Damon laughed incredulously. _

"Wooing Blondie of course," Damon said with a wink.

_He tipped his glass towards Damon's. _

"Cheers, mate," he said, trying hard to bite back the bitterness in his voice.

_Damon's expression relaxed, and he smiled triumphantly as he tapped his glass against his, completely oblivious to the fact that he was far from happy about Damon's latest progress. _

"Don't expect Caroline home that night," Damon warned him suggestively.

_He felt his gag reflex twitch in response to Damon's comment, and he griped his drink glass so hard, he thought it might shatter in his hands. _

_The mental image of Damon striping Caroline of her beautiful dress and taking advantage of her made him want to be sick. _

"How did swimming lessons go?" Damon asked after awhile. "What did you think of Caroline's swimsuit? I helped her pick it out when she stopped by her apartment this morning. Personally, I preferred the bikinis, but she was going for modesty, so, I suggested the black one," he explained. "Unfortunately, we were both in a rush so she didn't have time to model them for me," he teased.

_He cringed, concealing the cause of his expression with a sip of his drink. _

"Caroline has a lot of interesting articles of clothing in the top drawer of her dresser," Damon continued. "I might have stolen a peek or two," he admitted guiltily.

_His face began to grow hot with rage. _

"I couldn't find any of her toys though. She probably took them with her because she knew she wouldn't be getting any from you," Damon laughed. "Don't worry though, I'll make sure she doesn't need to use them."

_He growled under his breath. _

"Damon, fuck off," he spat angrily.

_Damon held up his hands in his defence. _

"Whoa, whoa, calm down. I was just joking," Damon said innocently.

"Well, it's not funny," he stated sternly, swallowing back the rest of his drink.

"Since when did you become so sensitive?" Damon wondered.

_He shrugged. _

"Just stop talking shit about her. It's not funny. It's actually kind of disgusting," he remarked.

_He could see Damon looking at him curiously from the corner of his eye. _

"Oh wow, are you sure you're over Caroline?" Damon said with a stunned tone, "because it doesn't sound like you are to me."

"I am over her," he stated as confidently as he could. "I didn't know that disqualified me from sticking up for her."

"It kind of does. Besides, I thought you were supposed to be my friend?" Damon challenged.

"We have never been friends, Damon," he denied. "As long as Caroline and I are raising Grayson together, I will always defend her."

_Damon laughed. _

"You sound jealous to me," Damon shrugged.

"Well, I'm not," he said flatly.

_Preparing to stand and make an exit before he allowed his fist to connect with Damon's face, he was caught off guard by familiar feminine voice behind him. _

"Hey, again," the voice said.

_He noticed Damon gazing over his shoulder interestedly. _

_Turning around, he placed the voice to the girl who had helped select diapers at the grocery store this afternoon. _

_She looked different with her straight chestnut hair loosely hanging over her shoulders, makeup applied, and her work uniform exchanged for a tight pair of jeans and revealing tank top. _

_Another girl, with dirty blonde hair, and a similar outfit, had accompanied her to the bar. _

"Hey," he greeted the both of them, glancing at Damon over his shoulder amusedly.

_Yes, he was over Caroline Forbes, he told himself.  
_

* * *

_And so the night had shifted its course entirely he thought as he pushed himself off the brick wall and did up his jeans. _

_The dark-haired girl, who had come to learn was named Krista, stood up shakily and wiped her lips with her hand. _

"Well, that was fun," she giggled lowly, as though they had just done something entirely inappropriate_. _

_He supposed they had, the back alley of the Grill wasn't exactly discreet, but he was indifferent. _

_There was no thrill to it for him. It seemed entirely monotonous and routine. This had been the ending to more than a few of his nights out in New York. _

_Krista staggered tipsily before leaning against the wall as she reached into her purse. She pulled out a pack of cigarettes and extended one in his direction. _

_He hadn't had a cigarette in nearly a week. He was trying to quit. _

_Regardless, he took the cigarette from her offering hand and lit it eagerly, breathing in the nicotine. _

_He reflected on the night, much like he had earlier on his fight with Caroline, trying to figure out how he went from exchanging words with Damon, to getting head outside the Grill on a less than warm spring night. _

_The girls had diffused the situation between him and Damon. They ordered more drinks, found themselves at the billiards table, and before long he was alone with the brunette, with Damon and the blonde nowhere in sight. _

_When Krista announced she was going back inside to find her friend, he didn't follow her. _

_Instead, he finished the cigarette before crushing it into the gravel with his foot and deciding to walk home. _

_That's when Damon and the blonde came crashing through the same door Krista had entered only minutes ago. _

_Damon kissed her forcefully, and they stumbled against one of the dumpsters. _

"Krista's looking for you," he spoke up, informing the girl whose name he couldn't remember.

_Both she and Damon separated, obviously surprised to find him standing there. _

"I should go back in and find her," the blonde stammered, heading back for the door despite Damon's protests.

_He snickered at the success of his cock block as the girl disappeared back inside. _

_Damon huffed in defeat. _

"Thanks for that," Damon said sarcastically.

"I guess the small town life hasn't changed you a bit," he sneered.

"It hasn't changed you either," Damon retorted.

_He acknowledged Damon's point with a slight dip of his head. _

"I'm not the one dating Caroline, apparently," he replied.

_Damon smirked. _

"Neither am I," Damon said nonchalantly.

"What would you call it then, mate? Leading her on?" he countered. "What would Caroline call it?" he probed.

"She can call it whatever she wants to call it," Damon said indifferently.

_His fists clenched and he bit into the side of his cheek to hold himself back. _

"Just so long as it gets you laid? Is that it?" he concluded.

"You said it, not me," Damon shrugged amusedly, with a devious smirk planted on his face.

_Without much thought, he was lunging at Damon and had his fists clenched around the collar of his shirt. _

_Damon laughed drunkenly as he fell back against the dumpster. _

"You're pathetic," Damon cackled. "What is all this?" he wondered, eyeing Klaus appraisingly. "I thought you said you didn't care about her?"

"I lied," he spat with a shrug, not realizing what he had admitted to until the words were out of his mouth.

"I hope you don't expect me to back off, now that your feelings are out in the open," Damon told him challengingly. "I already offered and you passed on it. You had your chance and you screwed it up. What even makes you think Caroline will give you a second one? You wouldn't know what to do with it even if she gave it to you," Damon said mockingly.

"I don't expect her to give me second chance," he said, as much as it pained him to admit it. "But, I sure as hell intend to make sure she doesn't give you one in the first place," he seethed.

"I think it's too late for that," Damon guessed. "Besides, she won't believe anything you have to say about me. You're the bad guy, I'm not. You probably don't even have the balls to tell her how you feel."

_He let go of Damon's collar forcefully and backed away. _

_Damon smiled cockily. _

_Turning his back, he left Damon standing there, and headed for the street. _

_He knew if he engaged Damon any longer things would escalate further, and as much as he hated to admit it, he also knew that Damon had a point._

* * *

_The side streets back to the house were quiet and desolate. _

_It was, after all, nearly one in the morning. _

_He had drank a bit too much at the bar, but not enough to be incoherent or disoriented. He could probably even walk a straight line if he was put up to the task. Fortunately, this meant that any symptoms of a hangover tomorrow would be minimal. That was a good thing, considering he would be looking after Grayson tomorrow while Caroline was at the store. _

_Half-way back to the house it began to spit rain. _

_It was might have been a mild night for early spring, but it was still cold out, and he could still see his breath in the air. _

_He walked faster, hoping to beat the rain in case it started to pour. _

_Rounding the corner onto Elena and Elijah's street, he began to panic a little about returning to the house and confronting Caroline. He knew it would either come now or in the morning. _

_What would he say to her? Would he apologize? Surely, he would, but for what? For his opinion of Damon? Not after tonight. For his insensitivity? Perhaps. Would he tell her about Damon? How could he after what they had fought about? She wouldn't believe him. Damon was right. Should he tell her how he felt about her? Could he tell her how he felt about her? Damon was right, he didn't have the balls to. Not now after everything. _

_A lone car pulling up beside the curb as he stepped in front of Elijah and Elena's house caught his attention. _

_It was Vicki's car. _

_He pretended to ignore the car first, turning down the walkway for the front door, but that's when he heard the car door open and Vicki step out. _

"I guess I shouldn't be surprised you're ignoring me, since you ignored me the entire night," she scowled from behind him.

"You were working," he explained, turning to face her.

_She was in such hostile pursuit of him that she practically crashed into his chest. _

"Vicki, what are you doing here?" he sighed.

_He immediately regretted taking her up on that ride offer the first night. If he hadn't, she wouldn't know where he lived. He hadn't exchanged numbers with her for a very similar reason. _

"Oh, I just thought I'd check in and see how your night was...how _she_ was," Vicki said bitterly with a raised voice.

"You should go home," he told her, stepping onto the porch.

"I'm not going home until you tell me what kind of fucking game you're playing with me?" Vicki demanded.

_He winced, knowing it was probably only a matter of time before the neighbours - or worse, Caroline - heard Vicki. _

"I'm not playing any game with you," he hissed lowly, trying to remain quiet. "I went to the bar. I had a good time. You were working. That was it."

_She scoffed and folded her arms. _

"That was it?!" Vicki shouted incredulously. "You picked that girl up right in front of me!" she spat. "You're...supposed to be with me."

_His eyes widened, and he couldn't help but laugh at the irony of the situation. _

"You and I are not together," he denied. "We never were. We never will be. We went over this the first night," he reminded her. "You agreed that you were okay with those terms."

_Vicki's face scrunched up angrily. _

"I did nothing wrong tonight," he defended himself. "We're not in a relationship."

"You did nothing wrong tonight?" Vicki wondered sarcastically.

"Look, if this isn't working for you, then perhaps we should stop _this_," he suggested, unable to find a word to describe their situation. "This is exactly why I don't like getting into these situations. I warned you," he said, annoyed, and refusing to feel guilty over a situation Vicki had knowingly entered into.

"You're a fucking asshole!" Vicki spat.

_He stepped down onto the stairs and pointed towards her car. _

"You need to leave," he said sternly.

_But, it was too late. The porch light flicked on and the front door swung open. _

"What the hell is going on?" An even angrier Caroline demanded, stepping out onto the porch with nothing on but a thin sweater to cover her sleep shorts and tank top.

"It's nothing, Caroline, Vicki was just leaving," he said, glaring at Vicki.

"Are you stringing her along, too?" Vicki wondered loudly. "Is she another girl you use too until someone new comes along? Does she know about _her_?"

"I didn't string you along," he denied. "Now, please go."

"You're a fucking liar," Vicki protested.

_Caroline huffed in frustration. _

"One, Klaus and I are not involved. Two, I don't know what your problem is, but you need to leave now, or I'm going to call the police," Caroline threatened Vicki. "This isn't the time or the place. There is a seven month old sleeping upstairs and I have to work in the morning. I don't need to deal with this bullshit," she hissed.

_Vicki smirked incredulously, stepping back a bit, clearly a little threatened by Caroline's stern warning. _

"So you need your jealous girlfriend to defend you now?" Vicki mocked him.

_Caroline stepped down onto the stairs beside him. _

"Caroline," he said warningly under his breath.

"I'm jealous?" Caroline laughed. "You're the one in our front yard screaming at Klaus about some other girl," she snapped.

"How about you mind your own business," Vicki retorted, "and put some fucking clothes on."

_He could practically see the steam of anger coming from Caroline. _

"Uh, this is what I wear to sleep when I'm not planning on being awakened at one in the morning by a psychotic bitch, and I'm pretty sure it is my business when you're shouting on my property in the middle of the night. Klaus said what he had to say. Leave," Caroline demanded.

_Vicki remained steadfast. _

"Okay, fine, I guess I'll call the cops then," Caroline said casually, turning on her heel to go back inside.

_That's when Vicki relented. _

"I don't ever want to see you again," Vicki spat before she went for her car.

_He was about to follow Caroline inside when Vicki shouted at him again from the sidewalk. _

"Oh yeah, you forgot this tonight," Vicki barked, chucking Caroline's sketchbook across the front yard before climbing into her car and speeding off.

_Caroline gasped in horror, darting past him in her bare feet to retrieve the book and the loose papers that had scattered onto the damp grass. _

_He leapt off the stairs and began to help her, picking up the loose papers while Caroline picked up the book. _

_Caroline grabbed them from him and stormed inside. _

_He followed behind her guiltily. _

_She hurried into the kitchen spreading the wet papers across the dining table surface to air dry. _

"She's fucking insane," Caroline said quietly, but no less forcefully, as she looked at her drawings worriedly.

_Despite her sweater clutched tightly around her, she was shaking, probably due to a mixture of the cool wet air and adrenaline. _

_He stood warily in the doorway to the kitchen. _

"Caroline, I'm sorry. I didn't mean for her to come here," he claimed.

_Really, he hadn't, and the fact that Vicki had showed up here and caused chaos in such a short while startled and unnerved him. He wanted his personal life separate from his life with Caroline and Grayson. He didn't want them adversely impacted by his personal choices, and yet, that was exactly what had happened tonight. He realized he was going to have to start being more careful. _

"I know," she said.

"I had Matt put your sketchbook behind the bar when I noticed you left it behind. I didn't think Vicki would get a hold of it," he explained.

_She looked up at him. _

"It's not your fault," she assured him. "I left the book there in the first place."

_He nodded, though unsatisfied by her words. He still felt unbearably guilty. _

_Removing his jacket, he hung it over her shoulders. _

"Still, if I hadn't gotten involved with her, none of this would have happened," he spoke, gliding his forefinger regretfully across one of the wet pages on the table.

"What happened tonight?" Caroline asked, turning around to face him with his jacket now fastened around her with her hands.

_He shrugged and ran a hand over his tired face. _

"I stayed at the bar. Damon showed up..."

"You didn't say anything to him, did you?" Caroline interjected.

_He hesitated as Caroline's eyes widened in panic. _

"No, I didn't," he lied.

_Her features relaxed. _

"We were there drinking. There were girls there," he said, looking up to note her conflicted expression. "Vicki must have seen me while she was working. That's why she was upset. I walked home. She followed me here after her shift," he told her.

"Damon was with you?" she inquired, signalling to him that the mention of the girls had struck a chord with her.

_He nodded. _

_There was a tinge of hurt in her eyes. He could see it, but as quickly as he saw it, it was gone. She covered it up well. _

"Look, I'm sorry about earlier. I was criticizing you for being naive with Damon, and meanwhile, it turns out, I was being completely foolish with Vicki...and whatever it was that we were doing," he said, scoffing pathetically at himself.

"You don't have to apologize for what you said earlier. What you said was right," Caroline acknowledged blankly. "I tend to try and see the good in people to a fault."

_He shook his head in protest. _

"I was cruel...and insensitive. I didn't mean it that way," he clarified. "I just...don't want to see you get hurt."

_They made reluctant eye contact. _

"Well, I'm fine. I can take care of myself," she told him sternly.

"I know...I know that," he answered tentatively. "I'm just looking out for you...I'll always look out for you," he said sincerely.

_A faint smile appeared on Caroline's lips as she stared at him intently. _

_There was a voice inside his mind urging him to elaborate, pushing him to spill his guts, but there was an even louder one telling him to hold back. _

"Thanks," she replied. "I'm gonna go back to bed," she decided, slipping between him and the table for the hall.

_Standing there for a moment, he could practically feel his thoughts running circles in his head as he contemplated what to say. _

"Caroline..." he spoke, prompting her to stop and look back.

"Hmm?" she wondered.

_He swallowed hard, and with it he lost his temporary surge of confidence. _

"Good night," he said simply, cursing his nerves internally for betraying him.

"See you in the morning," she responded.

* * *

**A/N: So, I know it may not seem like it to you, but some significant progress (for Klaus) was made in this chapter with respect to Caroline. I also think Caroline might be warming back up to Klaus as well... **

**Next time on Tangled Up in Blue: Klaus and Caroline get a little dirty. Surprise visitors confront them with some tough questions. Klaus is left to deal with the aftermath of a girl's night out. As some would say, "when alcohol goes in, truth comes out...and clothes come off." **

**Review me, maybe?**


	16. Chapter 16

**A/N: You guys are insane! This story is at 950 reviews and I'm only posting chapter 16! Your support has been amazing and your reading your comments always cheers me up! **

**As usual, this wasn't the full chapter that was promised to you, but I decided to update now because the next part is huge and I felt that this part could standalone. The next part is completely finished, but will take some time to edit. Expect it to be posted as soon as possible, but I thought you would enjoy reading this in the meantime. **

**Thank you so much to my beta and tumblr wifey, livingdeadblondegirl, for editing this part and giving me a bunch of tips to make it better. **

**Speaking of tumblr, if you want to follow me, my name is idiot-wind. **

**It might be a shortened chapter, but I think you will enjoy it! I am eager to know what you think. :)**

* * *

"You're still here?" Camille wondered, stepping into the backroom behind her.

_She finished running the piece of material she was working with through the sewing machine before setting it aside. _

"What time is it?" she asked, glancing over her shoulder at Camille who was holding onto some old display signage.

"Almost three," Camille informed her. "I told you I would close up. I know you wanted to go home and spend some time with Grayson before our girl's night tonight."

_She sighed as she sat back against the chair and stretched. _

"You're not thinking of backing out, are you?" Camille asked disapprovingly. "Come on, you need a night out even though you claim that you don't. There's a band at the Grill tonight. We'll dance, we'll drink, we'll flirt with the lead singer...it'll be fun," she encouraged.

_Rubbing her hands over her face stressfully, she hesitated. _

"Klaus isn't backing out of his babysitter duties tonight, is he?" Camille assumed.

_She shook her head. _

"No, he's not. He knows he owes me after what happened last weekend with Vicki. Stefan is going to hang out with him and Grayson, and Meredith is supposed to come out with us; it's her weekend off," she clarified.

"Then what's the problem?" Camille shrugged.

"I've just been so busy working on these dresses. I should probably stay and work on them for a few more hours. Instead of going out or working on the dresses, I should be spending time with Grayson. I feel like I've hardly seen him all week. We wake up together in the morning, but I've barely made it home in time to say goodnight. I feel guilty for not being there," she confessed.

_She felt terrible for being so absent lately. She was terrified that Grayson was going to forget who she was, that she'd become a stranger to him. It gnawed at her every time she missed the little things. Klaus would tell her little amusing stories about something cute Grayson had done, and with each one, her guilt would grow. They were both convinced that Grayson was getting ready to crawl, and she fully anticipated that she would miss it. Klaus would probably send her a video after the fact, but she would miss seeing it live. _

_Though Klaus had been sticking close to home over the past week since the fiasco on the front lawn with Vicki, she still felt like she was burdening him every night she had warned him that she would be home late. Having him pick up her slack because of her work was one thing, but asking him to take care of Grayson while she went out tonight to have fun was different. As much as she needed a break, and even though Klaus had encouraged her to, she still felt bad. _

"The masquerade is in a few weeks. After that, you'll be done and you can spend some more time with Grayson," Camille reminded her.

"After the fundraiser is prom, Miss Mystic, and wedding season," she groaned.

_She was thankful for the busy season, but she also dreaded it at the same time, especially with Grayson and all the looming decisions she and Klaus had been putting off that they would eventually have to make. _

"You can't get bogged down by worrying about all of it," Camille stated, "just concentrate on the fundraiser, and give yourself permission to go out tonight!" she exclaimed enthusiastically.

_Camille's positivity and excitement began to rub off on her, and she couldn't help but crack a bit of a smile. _

"Okay, I'll try," she relented, standing up from the chair to organize her work for the next time she would be in.

"Great," Camille beamed, clapping her hands together.

"I guess I'll just come in tomorrow afternoon," she thought aloud, setting the material aside and heading for her office.

_Camille shook her head in protest as she put her spring coat on and gathered up her things. _

"You are getting so drunk tonight, Boss. You're not gonna wanna feel like coming in here tomorrow afternoon," Camille laughed.

_She rolled her eyes in incredulous amusement. _

"We are probably breaching some employer/employee code of ethics," she mused, stepping out of her office.

"Consider it an employee morale boosting activity," Camille joked. "I'll pick you and Meredith up at nine," Camille called after her.

* * *

_When she arrived home, she found the driveway empty. _

_She had to remind herself that today was Saturday and not weekday. Klaus definitely wasn't out picking up Grayson from daycare. _

_The house was quiet when she entered. _

"Hello? Klaus?" she called.

_With no reply, she checked her phone to find no message from Klaus saying where they were. _

_Entering the kitchen curiously, she grabbed herself a drink of water before noticing a note strategically placed on the kitchen island where she would see it when she was done. _

_She scanned over the written note. _

_'Caroline, went to Whitmore to the art supply store, be back soon - Klaus' _

_Klaus had mentioned the store he found online earlier in the week. Apparently the store there, while not the best of what he was accustomed to in New York, would provide him with the supplies he needed to work on his art and get by while he was here in Mystic Falls. He had been talking about going ever since then. _

_She was a little surprised that he had decided to go with Grayson, as opposed to going on a day when he was in daycare. It was nice to see that Klaus was becoming more confident with him. At the same time, she felt a small tinge of guilt and jealousy over their growing bond. She wanted to spend that quality time with Grayson, too. _

_Noting the time of day, she hoped Grayson took his naps on the car ride there and back for Klaus and Stefan's sakes later on. _

_With the house to herself, she decided to clean herself up in preparation for her night out later. A relaxing shower was just what she needed after the hectic day she had. _

_After discarding her clothes in her room, she headed straight for the bathroom, knowing if she stopped and looked she would be there for the next hour debating about what to wear tonight. _

_Given that Klaus and Grayson were both gone, she allowed herself to indulge in the hot water a little, taking her time. It was unusual nowadays to get anything more than a rushed shower. She couldn't even remember the last time she relaxed in the bath. _

_She thought she could hear Klaus and Grayson downstairs when she was finished, but she played ignorant just long enough to dry her hair, change into some comfortable clothes, and select an outfit for later tonight. _

_Since attending the Grill to watch a band was low key, she opted for a black sequined tank top, grey skinny pants, simple back heels with bows on the side, and a purple wristlet that sported a similar accent piece. _

_With her clothes picked out, she was just about to go down to greet Klaus and Grayson, but her phone began to complain. _

_She panicked initially, thinking it could be Camille calling regarding the store, or perhaps it was Meredith cancelling on them tonight as she had subtly tried to do to Camille earlier. _

_Her furrowed eyebrows relaxed, however, when she noticed Bonnie's name on the screen. Though they had promised to keep in touch all the time, they had slacked this week. She was excited to talk to her friend. _

_"Where have you been all my life, Girl?" Bonnie asked once she answered the phone. _

_She laughed. _

_"Sorry," she apologized, "this week has been chaos for me. These dresses won't make themselves," she mused. _

_"I know what you mean," Bonnie sighed. "Classes might be over, but I've been studying and grading papers and exams all week," she groaned. _

_"Well, Kol will be there soon and you'll be spending all your time studying him," she teased. _

_Bonnie laughed guiltily on the other end. _

_"You know it's true," she continued, much to Bonnie's disdain. _

_"Caroline," Bonnie said in a warning tone of voice. _

_She chuckled, but refrained from making any more playful comments. _

_"How was this week with Klaus after what happened last weekend?" Bonnie inquired curiously. _

_"He hasn't left the house any night this week. I think what happened with Vicki when she showed up here unnerved him. He felt really guilty. He was so concerned over my sketchbook. He helped ensure every single page in the book was completely dry," she explained. _

_"Did he?" Bonnie confirmed suggestively. _

_"He's even staying in tonight with Grayson so that I can go out with Camille and Meredith. He practically volunteered me. Usually, he's the first to have plans," she told her friend. _

_"Wow, first he's bringing you home rare fashion magazines and making you dinner, and now he's filled with apologies, efforts to help you fix your sketchbook, and all the spare time in the world so you can have a night out," Bonnie observed. "That's a little out of character for him, isn't it?" she wondered. _

_She found herself shrugging even though Bonnie couldn't see the gesture. _

_"It sounds like he's really going out of his way to get on your good side," Bonnie said curiously. _

_"I think he just feels guilty, Bonnie. Why else would he be trying to get on my 'good side'?" she questioned innocently. _

_"Maybe because you're a smart and sexy woman," Bonnie replied suggestively. _

_"Bonnie," she hissed, just as how Bonnie had chastised her when she began to bother her about Kol. _

_"Oh please, Caroline," Bonnie lamented. "I'm just going to stop beating around the bush. It's obvious Klaus has a thing for you; Kol and I both think so," she explained. _

_Her friend's blunt observation startled her, especially since she had seemed dead set against Klaus as far as him being suitable for her romantically. Why would she say something like that now all of the sudden?_

_"No, he doesn't," she denied flatly, floating towards her bedroom door to ensure that Klaus was still downstairs with Grayson. "Up until last week, he was completely preoccupied with Vicki. If you haven't forgotten, Klaus's interest in me was very short term. He's just trying to be nice," she reasoned. _

_She could hear Bonnie scoff incredulously on the other end. _

_"Caroline, open your eyes," Bonnie chuckled. "Why else would he have gotten so upset last weekend when you told him you were going to be Damon's date to that fundraiser?" _

_"He's just concerned about me. Damon and Klaus have similar reputations, apparently," she explained. _

_"Yeah, or he's jealous," Bonnie murmured alternatively. _

_The idea of Klaus being jealous over her date with Damon wasn't something she had considered. It was a ridiculous thought. The whole idea of Klaus being interested in her was ridiculous. Nevertheless, she found herself second guessing the motivations behind Klaus's behaviour, every look, and every word. It still seemed far-fetched to her. _

_"Or, he's just concerned," she repeated. _

_"What if it's more than that?" Bonnie pressed. _

_She stammered over a response. _

_"Well, I can't help the way he feels," she admitted, "but you know how I feel about him, Bonnie." _

_"Do I?" Bonnie wondered. _

_She hesitated for a moment and that in and of itself alarmed her. _

_"Klaus has been great with Grayson. He's been good to me. And there's always going to be a part of me that finds him attractive, but that's it. It will never be anything more, especially now with Grayson. We can't jeopardize the friendship we're building," she said. _

_"How can you be so sure you'd be jeopardizing anything?" Bonnie countered. _

_"What happened to the Bonnie who was so anti-Klaus?" she asked, unnerved by Bonnie's apparent change of opinion. _

_"I was never anti-Klaus, Caroline," Bonnie denied. "I just wanted you to be very careful after last time." _

_"You know how he is," she felt inclined to remind her friend. _

_"Why are you going on a date with Damon then if he and Klaus are so similar?" Bonnie retorted. _

_"It's one date. I'm not jumping into a relationship with him. You were the one encouraging me to have some fun when I first told you about Damon," she reminded Bonnie. "Not everyone lives up to their reputation." _

_As soon as she spoke her last sentence, she knew what Bonnie's response would be. _

_"And not everyone's reputation defines them. Maybe Klaus has stopped living up to his?" Bonnie suggested. _

_"Maybe he has, but like I said, we're just friends," she said, feeling as though she was trying to convince more than just Bonnie. _

_Taking the hint that she wanted to move onto less controversial topics of conversation, Bonnie relented with a sigh. _

_"So, how is the little man?" Bonnie inquired. _

_"He's fine, I think. He's still not crawling, but it seems like he's going to every time we set him down," she said, only half-amused by her comment. "I haven't seen him much this week. I've been so busy with work. I feel like I should cancel my plans to go out tonight," she admitted guiltily. _

_"When was the last time you went out and enjoyed yourself, Caroline? You've spend all your free time working when you're not spending it with Grayson," Bonnie said. "You need this. By the time you go out tonight Grayson will be in bed anyways." _

_Like Camille, she appreciated Bonnie's efforts to ease her guilty conscience. _

_"I suppose you're right," she conceded, stepping out of her room curiously when she heard Grayson shriek playfully from downstairs. _

_"Anything from CPS yet?" Bonnie asked. _

_"Nope," she said simply, descending the stairs. "Klaus and I have been sitting on pins and needles all week."_

_"Kol is still trying to find out what he can from Mikael and Esther before he leaves for New York, but they've been silent. If they say anything, it will be to Rebekah," Bonnie said hopefully. "Speaking of New York, you and Klaus still better be planning to come out with Grayson..."_

_She stepped off the last stair and rounded the corner to see Grayson at the end of the hall in the kitchen sitting on newspapers and large white sheets of paper in nothing but his diaper, his skin covered in blue and red. _

_"Oh my god!" she gasped in panic. _

_"What's wrong?" Bonnie asked. _

_"Nothing's wrong...I think. I'll call you back," she said hurriedly, ending the call._

* * *

_She rushed into the kitchen. Klaus was mixing something yellow in a small container at the kitchen island while Grayson rubbed his hands in what appeared to be paint. _

"What's going on?" she demanded as she tossed her phone onto the table, kneeling down to grasp Grayson's hands before he stuck them in his mouth.

"Good afternoon to you too, sweetheart," Klaus greeted with an amused smirk. "If you haven't already gathered, we're having fun," Klaus informed her as he strode towards them, setting down the yellowish paint on the paper for Grayson as he sat down across from him.

"This is paint, Klaus. Grayson is too young. It's toxic," she chided, reaching to pick up Grayson to take him to the sink to clean up.

_Klaus stopped her. _

"Caroline, do you really think I'd be stupid enough to give a seven month old toxic paint?" he laughed. "It's perfectly safe for babies, and edible too, made from all natural products," Klaus informed her, just in time for Grayson to dip his finger into the yellow paint and wipe it against his lips.

_Klaus released his hand from her forearm as she began to relax. _

_Grayson pressed both his palms against the paper, leaving colourful streaks as he moved them. _

_She sat back on the floor beside Grayson and watched him intently. _

_Grayson examined his hands before squishing them together, releasing a squeal of delight as he did so. _

"He's making such a mess," she said anxiously, noticing that Grayson had painted himself and the newspaper just as much as the white paper - it's intended target. "It's going to stain the floor..."

_Klaus shook his head. _

"Would you relax, love? The guy at the art store in Whitmore assured me that it was easy to clean. I'll take care of it," he assured her. "Grayson is having a great time, look at him," Klaus encouraged her.

_Sighing, she tried to ease her concern. _

_Grayson was having fun. _

_He dipped his hands back into the paints, smearing more paint haphazardly against the paper, releasing another audible gasp of surprise at the colours left behind. _

_She smiled at his reaction to the new sensory experience, laughing when he brought his hands back up to his face. _

"Are you painting?" she asked him sweetly.

_Grayson cooed, rubbing some blue on his stomach. _

"You're the next Picasso, aren't you Gray?" Klaus asked him.

_She smirked at the thought as Klaus dipped one of Grayson's hands in the red paint, helping him press it flat against the paper to leave a handprint. _

_Grayson seemed in awe of the sight. _

"How was your day?" Klaus asked casually.

"Busy," she sighed, moving the yellow paint closer to Grayson. "Did you get what you needed in Whitmore?"

_Klaus nodded. _

"They had the canvas and all the supplies I need to make the stretcher frames for it," he replied. "Once I make the frames, I can work on some new paintings."

"That's good," she acknowledged.

"Oh, and I picked this up for you," Klaus said nonchalantly, standing up and reaching across the kitchen island.

_He handed her the plain black hardcover book. _

_She took the oversized book reluctantly, opening it to find blank pages. _

"I figured you might need it," he shrugged with a small smile.

"A sketchbook," she chuckled. "Thanks," she said, smiling back, while Bonnie's earlier conclusions began to flood to the forefront of her mind.

_He doesn't have a thing for you, she stated to herself. Klaus is just trying to be nice. _

"You didn't have to do that," she told him, setting the sketchbook aside, out of the way of Grayson's mess.

"I wanted to," he shrugged.

_She had learned not to argue when Klaus put his mind to something like this. It was futile. Besides, it's not like she was going to make Klaus drive all the way back to Whitmore to return it. He did have a point; she would need a new one with crisp new pages to sketch in. _

_Klaus sat back down on the floor next to her and Grayson. _

"I should probably call Bonnie back and tell her why I basically hung up on her so isn't sitting there worrying," she laughed, wondering what Bonnie must be thinking at this point.

"That's who you were talking to?" Klaus asked passively. "What did Bonnie have to say?"

"She just wanted to check in," she shrugged. "She's getting ready for Kol's stay in New York. She's urging us to set a date...to visit," she elaborated, leaving out the part of the conversation where they discussed him.

_Klaus nodded and they both fell quiet as they returned to watching Grayson splatter some paint with his hands. _

"He loves it," she observed as Grayson alternated between painting with his fingers and putting them in his mouth.

"He does," Klaus agreed, helping Grayson dip his hand into the green paint.

_There was probably nothing better than the sight of Grayson having fun and the sound of his laughter - especially with Klaus. It was comforting and reassuring. _

_Klaus had impressed her yet again. He was really getting the hang of this baby thing. _

"So, this paint really edible?" she confirmed, looking down at the glob of red paint in one of the containers.

"Of course it's edible. It's made from fruits and vegetables," Klaus reiterated. "I tasted it," he acknowledged as she dipped her finger into the paint.

_She scrunched up her face in disgust at the thought of tasting it. _

"If Grayson was going to eat it, I wanted to try it," he shrugged. "It's not that bad; taste it," he encouraged.

_Holding out her finger in front of her, she hesitated. _

"Did you actually try it?" she asked him with an arched eyebrow.

_He scowled and grabbed her wrist. _

_Before she could discern what was happening, his soft lips were curled around her finger. The gesture startled her, and while she was outwardly disgusted and amused by it, inwardly her reaction was much different; her body tingled with excitement as he withdrew her digit from his mouth and she felt his plush tongue glide over the pad of her finger. _

_To her, the action was taking place in slow motion. In reality, her finger was in and out of his mouth in a few seconds. _

_For a quick moment, thoughts of his tongue on other parts of her body, and thoughts of her tongue on other parts of his clouded her mind. _

"See? It's not that bad," Klaus said, licking his lips.

_Doing her best to act mortified, to hide the fact that she was oddly aroused, she glowered at him. _

"Ew! That's so gross," she cried in protest.

_Acting quickly, she rubbed the residual paint and his excess saliva on her finger across his cheek. A small shiver crept down her spine as his stubble tickled her skin. _

_A little stunned by her response, Klaus's eyes widened as he felt where her hand had just been. _

"Bitch," he murmured lowly, so Grayson wouldn't hear.

_She glared at him disapprovingly. _

"Well, you shouldn't have licked..."

_A Cheshire grin on Klaus's face prompted her to hesitate anxiously. _

_His smile also served as a brilliant distraction because she hadn't notice Klaus put more paint on his fingers until they marked her cheek as she had his - only worse. _

"Klaus!" she complained. "I just had a shower...and you got some on my t-shirt," she groaned.

_He frowned apologetically, and that was her plan. She didn't care about these clothes, plus she hadn't applied her makeup yet, so she wasn't concerned about washing her face. He didn't know that though. _

"Caroline, I didn't..."

_She took her opportunity and ran with it. Squishing three of her fingers into the green paint, she pounced on him unexpectedly, pinning him down against the kitchen floor and smearing the paint across his other cheek vengefully. _

_Cackling victoriously, she wiped the remaining paint from her finger onto his forehead. _

"I win!" she laughed, only realizing then the compromising position she had put them in.

_She was straddling Klaus's hips while he rested below her. His body was pressed firmly against hers in places where the pressure was much too suggestive for her to handle. _

_They had been like this before, though with far fewer clothes on; twice, actually, not that she was keeping track. She sucked in a breath and her toes curled slightly as she thought back to those nights; those nights she took control of him like this, those nights he left her writhing for more. _

_She shouldn't be doing this; they shouldn't be doing this. They were walking a very fine line and this was on the verge of becoming inappropriately dangerous. _

_Over thinking it proved fatal. _

_She shrieked when Klaus griped her sides, changing their positions, so that she was now below him. _

"Not quite," Klaus declared triumphantly, pinning her hands above her head while his free hand decorated her face in red paint as she struggled to break free beneath him.

"Klaus, stop!" she yelped.

_She tried to act serious, but she couldn't help but laugh as he continued to paint her skin red. _

"Stop!" she whined, her command cracking into more uncontainable laughter.

_Her tiny wrists were no match for his masculine hand, and her body could barely move under the weight of his torso. _

"I think I win," Klaus smirked.

"Get off of me," she cried.

"I'm not going to let you take advantage of my pity this time," he mused. "If you can't take the heat, get out of the kitchen, Forbes," he challenged her.

_There was heat all right, heat that she most definitely couldn't take, but it wasn't the metaphorical heat he was referring to; it was the literal heat between their bodies; it was the heat that had concentrated itself at the junction of her thighs. _

_She squirmed underneath him some more, trying hard to ignore the way their combative movements mimicked something more intimate; when she bucked her hips upwards, he bucked his downwards to contain her. _

_As she fought to push him away, her entire being urged her to pull him closer. She wanted to feel him against her, to revel in the warmth that consumed her when he touched her. _

_It hadn't dawned on her until now - when it was just within her grasp - just how much she truly longed for it - for him. She craved him. _

_Her chest constricted from a lethal cocktail of desire and heartache. _

_He could make her burn with passion, but he could also make her quake with fear. _

_With all her senses on overdrive and her emotions spiraling out of control, she tensed against him and attempted a last ditch effort to fight not only against his concrete strength, but also against the insidious metaphysical power he continued to retain over her body and her heart. _

_Picking up on her detached response, he separated his body from hers, and she gave up her fight, allowing her body to relax, panting to catch her breath. _

_His breaths were also laboured from their little struggle. _

_With the both of them nearly recovered, she looked up at him to find him looking back down at her fixedly; his blue eyes were ablaze with a hypnotic passion and yearning that made it difficult for her to look away. _

_The mood had shifted, and the tension between them was palpable. _

_Suddenly, she felt her breathing hitch once more as his thumb traced itself over her cheek. _

_The action could have easily been interpreted as him ensuring the paint he attacked her with was spread evenly across her face, but the movement was too slow, too affectionate to be a joke. _

_His face was inches from hers, and it wasn't the lack of distance between them that unnerved her, it was the fact that she wanted him to close it entirely. _

_She wanted him to kiss her. _

_Her sides clenched excitedly at the prospect. _

_She wanted to pull on the necklace hiding under his t-shirt to bring his lips against hers. _

"Klaus..." she breathed.

_Growing apprehensive of her own desires and the way Klaus was staring at her, she quickly averted her gaze. _

_Her stomach dropped when she noticed Grayson was no longer on the paper beside them. _

_No wonder things had grown so quiet. _

"Where's Grayson!?" she gasped, shooting up from the floor as Klaus climbed off of her.

_She peered around the dining room table as Klaus looked around the island. _

"Grayson?" she called. "How did he move so fast?"

"We're not playing hide and seek, Gray," Klaus sighed.

_After looking under the table, she stood up from her crouched position and that's when she noticed the paint tracks into the family room. _

_Grayson was crawling behind the coffee table. _

"Klaus," she whispered, in hopes she wouldn't distract Grayson.

_She pointed to the family room and Klaus emerged from the kitchen to investigate. _

_When he saw what she saw, he smirked. _

"Little bugger," he mused, as they watched an unsuspecting Grayson crawl beside the shelving unit.

"He's crawling," she said under her breath excitedly.

_She felt her throat began to swell with emotion, and she felt this overwhelming urge to cry, but she was able to refrain from spilling both tears of joy and sadness. She was beyond happy at the sight of Grayson's achievement, but she was also disappointed that Elena and Elijah weren't here to see it. _

_Despite that, she couldn't hold back the proud grin on her face. _

_Not even the paint Grayson had tracked into the family room could bring her down. _

_That's when Grayson started to get into mischief, pulling things from the bottom shelf beside him. _

"No, no, honey," she said, entering the family room as he decided to try and munch on a DVD case.

_The doorbell rang in the same moment. _

"I'll go get it," Klaus offered, disappearing down the hall as she removed the case from Grayson's grasp.

_It was Elijah and Elena's wedding video. _

"Eating that now might not be such a good idea, monkey," she said in lieu of Grayson's audible protests. "You might want to watch that when you're older," she laughed, setting the case on the coffee table.

_She watched curiously from the family room through to the living room as Klaus opened the front door. _

_There was a man and a woman, both in their late thirties or early forties, dressed rather professionally, standing on the front porch expectantly. _

"Good afternoon, we're here on behalf of Child Protective Services."

* * *

**A/N: Dun dun dun! **

**So, what did you think about Klaus and Caroline getting dirty? **

**Up next on Tangled Up in Blue: Klaus and Caroline go up against CPS, Caroline enjoys a girl's night out a little too much, while Klaus has a guys night in with Stefan. When Caroline returns home drunk, Klaus is put in a very awkward position. **


	17. Chapter 17

**A/N: Here it finally is! I apologize for the delay. Both my beta and I have been busy.**

**I just started back to school again. With that said, I will try to update consistently, but it may take longer than usual. I may begin posting shorter chapters in order to update more frequently. I hope my lack of updating won't discourage you from reading and enjoying my story. I appreciate your patience immensely.**

**Oh, I'm nominated in the Klaroline Awards on tumblr by the way. Tangled Up in Blue has been nominated for best AU/AH fiction. Love Interruption has been nominated for best completed fiction, and I've also been nominated as best smut author. If you would like to vote for me, search Klaroline Awards on tumblr! **

**Thank you so much for reading and reviewing the last chapter. Your enthusiasm is astounding. I hope you like the update!**

* * *

_He stood at the door facing the man and woman a little bewilderedly. They had been expecting this visit for some time, and yet, now that they were here, he felt completely unprepared and taken off guard. _

_Though, he suspected that had something to do with the fact that he had nearly worked up the courage to kiss Caroline only to be interrupted by Grayson's absence as a result of him learning to crawl. _

_Needless to say, he was a bit overwhelmed. _

"Can we come in?" they requested, in unison, as if their visit was an entirely rehearsed act or procedure.

_He supposed for them, it was. _

_As they looked at him awkwardly, it was only then that he remembered the paint Caroline had so boldly smeared across his face. _

"Yeah, sure," he said, stepping aside and giving them both a clumsy smile.

"Niklaus Mikaelson, I presume?" the woman, with short black hair asked him, extending her hand, as the man shut the door behind him.

_He nodded, shaking her hand. _

"Klaus," he corrected.

"I'm Sylvia Taylor, and this is Peter Monroe. We're caseworkers for Child Protective Services," the woman introduced. "We've been assigned to your case. If you don't mind, we'd like to conduct our first interview as a requirement to obtain permanent custody of Grayson Mikaelson. Are Grayson and Ms. Forbes here?" the woman asked, as he shook the man's hand.

"We're here," Caroline said hurriedly, stepping into the hallway with a paint-covered Grayson, much to his relief and anxiety.

_Both caseworkers looked at them appraisingly, clearly noticing their unruly appearances. _

"I hope we didn't catch you at a bad time?" the male caseworker asked, clipboard and pen already in hand, he noted.

_He looked at Caroline to respond, unsure of what to say, knowing everything they said or did in these moments could be held against them. _

"No, of course not," Caroline said politely. "Klaus take their jackets," she instructed him with a penetrating glare. "We were just painting with Grayson," Caroline explained. "Baby safe paint," she added hastily.

_He rubbed his hands on his shirt before he extended his hand to take their jackets as the male caseworker began to jot down a few notes. _

"I wasn't aware there was baby safe paint," the woman said almost critically while handing him her jacket.

_Caroline shot him a glance, urging him to elaborate. _

"I picked it up at an art supply store in Whitmore. It's made from fruit and vegetables; it's an all natural product," he explained just as he had to Caroline when she freaked out earlier.

_He offered to take the male caseworker's jacket, and hung both of them on the coat rack. _

"I think he enjoyed painting himself more than the paper," the male caseworker observed with a slight laugh.

"He definitely enjoyed himself," Caroline confirmed.

"It looks like the both of you enjoyed yourselves," the woman pointed out, looking at both him and Caroline, their faces covered in just as much paint as Grayson's was.

_Tensing awkwardly, he avoided glancing in Caroline's direction. _

_He'd be lying if he said he hadn't enjoyed himself. Sure, he had fun with Grayson, but Caroline had been largely responsible for his enthusiasm. He hadn't been that close to her since the last time they slept together._

_It was all he could do to contain himself with her confidently astride him. It was all he could do hold back from pressing his hips harder into hers as he had her pinned beneath him. If he had, surely Caroline would have been able to feel the strain of his pants. _

_He had this insatiable need to be close to her, to feel her body curve against his, to inhale her intoxicating perfume, to feel her breath on his skin, her golden hair in his hands, and her lips against his. _

_It amazed him how she could send him reeling into a frenzy with a simple flash of her crystal blue eyes. _

_He wanted her - all of her - so badly he could almost taste it. _

_If the way she breathed his name and stared up at him desirously was any indication, she wanted him just as badly. _

_Still, she hesitated. She turned away from him at the last minute, just as he was about to make his move. She was reluctant. She was holding back for reasons he suspected had to do with their circumstances and their history. _

_She wasn't ready to let him in a second time, and maybe she never would be. As much as he wanted to convince her to take another chance on him, he wasn't sure he knew what to do with it. _

"Yeah, the three of us sort of got into a paint fight. We like to immerse ourselves in all of Grayson's activities," Caroline said with a shaky smile.

_Both caseworkers eyed them skeptically. _

"We started his swimming lessons back up last week," Caroline added.

_This new information didn't seem to sway either caseworker. _

"So, how does this interview work exactly?" Caroline wondered anxiously.

_He was wondering the same thing. _

"Ideally, we like to conduct separate and joint interviews during the first visit as well as a house tour, but since we have to report back to the office at five, and we kind of caught you at a bad time, we'll focus on the joint interview and the tour," the female caseworker explained.

"Do we have time to clean up first?" Caroline laughed lightly.

_Both caseworkers hesitated as the male glanced down at the watch on his wrist. _

"This won't take too long. If you'd like to return Grayson to his paints, that will give us a chance to talk to the both of you. You can take a few minutes you clean yourselves up while we take a look around the main floor if you'd feel more comfortable, but we are pressed for time," the male caseworker warned them.

_Caroline exchanged a perturbed look with him. _

_Not only were the caseworkers interrupting their afternoon unexpectedly, but they had the audacity to demand that they accommodate their schedule. _

_He was tempted to ask them to reschedule the first interview, but he knew how that would look to them, and later on, to the judge. Moreover, he knew the rescheduled time could end up being just as inconvenient as this. _

"Sure," Caroline said, mustering her best fake smile. "Feel free to take a look around. We'll be in the kitchen," she added, walking past him, urgently beckoning him to follow her with his eyes.

_As the caseworkers lingered for a few moments in the front hall, he followed Caroline and Grayson into the kitchen. _

_Caroline set Grayson back down on the floor with his paints before frantically rushing towards the kitchen sink to scrub her hands and face clean. _

_He lingered in between, keeping a concerned eye on both of them. _

"Oh my god," Caroline cursed under her breath. "What a great start to our first interview. This is a disaster," she muttered, handing him a cloth so that he could remove the paint from himself.

"They have impeccable timing," he acknowledged sarcastically as he cleaned off his face.

_The stress was apparent on Caroline's features as she scanned the mess in the kitchen. _

_There were dishes in and around the sink waiting to be washed, the kitchen island was littered with all the supplies used to prepare Grayson's paints, the dining room table served as a shelf for Grayson's diaper bag, his purchases from the art store, Caroline's bag, and documents of Elijah and Elena's they still had yet to go through. The kitchen floor was covered in newspaper and paint. That was only the kitchen. _

_Through to the family room, Grayson's fresh paint tracks were quickly drying, and would surely stain the rug since they would have to wait to clean it. Grayson's toys were scattered around the room from earlier, and there was a nearly empty bottle on the coffee table that he had fed Grayson before they left for Whitmore. _

_It looked like a tornado had ripped through the house. _

"What are we going to do now?" Caroline sighed, glancing over his shoulder towards the caseworkers who were in the living room - one of the only clean rooms in the house.

_He shrugged, tossing the cloth onto the counter. _

"There's nothing we can do about the mess now," he shrugged. "We just have to answer their questions the best we can and hope that they're satisfied with our responses."

_Inside, he was just as worried as she was. It bothered him that there was nothing more he could do to reassure either of them. _

_Before Caroline could respond to him, the caseworkers entered the family room. _

_They both watched as the caseworkers looked around the room. They inspected the large wall unit, eyeing every photograph, book, and video. They appraised each one of Grayson's toys on the floor as they stepped over them. He felt like he was a part of some grand inquisition. _

"The photographs," the female caseworker started, holding up one on the side table, "these are Elijah and Elena's?" She asked.

_Caroline nodded confusedly. _

"Grayson has a lot of toys," the male caseworker observed, after nearly tripping over one to enter the kitchen.

_He coughed to conceal an amused laugh. _

"He likes to keep busy," Caroline explained. "Would either of you like something to drink?" Caroline asked, putting her polite mask back on again.

_The caseworkers shook their heads in unison as they wandered into the kitchen, clearly scanning the cluttered countertops. _

"So Ms. Forbes, our records indicate you were a close friend to the deceased?" the male caseworker asked. "Could you describe your relationship with them?"

_He noticed Caroline's expression drop slightly. _

"I only really met Elijah through Elena, but we became friends as he and Elena grew closer," Caroline started, a slow smile appearing on her lips as she seemed to be lost in a memory. "I didn't trust him at first because Elena was so young when they first met, and there was such an age difference between them, but he loved her. He once spent his last bit of savings on a flight to see her on her birthday," she said, shaking her head, breaking herself out of her thoughts. "Needless to say, I ended up trusting him enough with Elena...and he trusted me enough with Grayson."

_He recalled the time Elijah had scraped the bottom of his savings account - most of his money tied up with living expenses and repaying student debt - to pay for a flight to surprise Elena on her birthday. Telling Elijah that he was making a foolish mistake was as clear in his mind now as the day he had said it during a phone conversation. Elijah hadn't listened to him, however. As he looked down at Grayson, he supposed that was a good thing. _

"And Elena?" the woman inquired.

"Elena is...was my best friend since we were little. We were inseparable up until we attended college. She was a sister to me," Caroline said concisely. "We would have done anything for each other," she added, taking a moment to eye Grayson herself.

_Both caseworkers nodded while the male jotted down a few notes. _

"And you, Mr. Mikaelson? What was your relationship like with the deceased?"

_He tensed, uncomfortable with such a personal question for him - especially when it came to his brother. _

"I had four brothers growing up, but Elijah and I were always the closest," he admitted, trying to suppress his self-consciousness for Grayson's sake.

_He made a point of concentrating on a piece of newspaper at his feet as a means to avoid looking at Caroline or Grayson. _

"We did everything together, and told each other everything. He was always there for me when I needed him to be," he explained, swallowing the lump in his throat. "I knew Elena through high school, but I didn't really get to know her until she started seeing my brother. Once I was convinced that things were serious between them, Elena gradually became like a sister to me," he finished, confident with his response.

_Caroline seemed satisfied with his response. There was a small smile on her lips. _

_More notes were taken by both caseworkers before they looked back up at them again. _

"Why do you think they chose you to be the ones to look after Grayson in the event of an unfortunate tragedy, like this?" the female caseworker wondered.

_Both he and Caroline were quiet for a few moments. _

"They trust us," he shrugged.

"Next to them, we're the ones who care most about Grayson," Caroline added.

_He nodded in agreement. _

"They know that we'll raise Grayson the way they wanted him to be raised," he said.

_The female caseworker raised an inquisitive eyebrow in his direction, and he knew then that a tough question was coming. _

"And how do you plan to raise Grayson?" she wondered.

_He froze and hesitated instantly, looking to Caroline helplessly. How the hell were they supposed to answer a question like that? What were they even asking? _

_Caroline began to stammer as she tried to come up with a sufficient response. _

"Well, according to the values Elijah and Elena prized the most," Caroline began, "honesty, integrity, empathy, love, passion, persistence, forgiveness," she listed, looking at him briefly.

_He relaxed a little with Caroline's impressive save, though both caseworkers seemed expressionless as they took a few more notes. _

"How did the two of you meet?" the male caseworker questioned.

_He felt his head cock to the side, somewhat perplexed by the question. _

"We knew each other in high school. We met again at Elijah and Elena's wedding..." he said cautiously.

_Obviously he wasn't about to go into any detail. He was sure the caseworkers wouldn't like to hear about their impromptu date at the Grill that ultimately ended in his hotel room. _

"I was the maid of honour and he was the best man," Caroline added, likely hoping that would lend to their credibility.

_The information seemed irrelevant to both caseworkers, however, with the female caseworker checking her phone, and the male caseworker taking more notes. _

"Do you mind taking us upstairs so we can have a look around? We just want to see where Grayson sleeps, where he bathes, that sort of thing," the female caseworker explained.

_Acquiescing to the request, he bent down to wipe off Grayson's face and hands while Caroline stepped ahead to lead the caseworkers upstairs. _

_With Grayson somewhat clean, he picked him up and followed behind. _

"Perhaps while we look around you can go over what a typical day looks like for Grayson," the male caseworker requested of Caroline from the second floor.

_He ascended the stairs as Caroline and the caseworkers entered Grayson's nursery. _

"Well, Grayson usually wakes up in the morning through the week between six and seven. It's sometimes a little later on weekends. Grayson goes to daycare on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays as he did before..." she explained, faltering on clarifying that she meant before Elijah and Elena's accident. "I take him in the morning, and Klaus picks him up in the afternoon," she continued, as he entered the nursery. His bedtime is usually between seven thirty and eight."

"How often is he napping and feeding?" the male caseworker asked looking directly at him as he peered up from Grayson's crib.

_As with all the questions that had been asked, this one took him off guard. This was a question he knew the answer to even better than Caroline, since he was with Grayson most, but his nerves caused him to falter for a moment as he thought of answer. _

"He usually has four bottles a day, sometimes five if he wakes up in the middle of the night," he said as he counted in his head to confirm.

_Grayson had a bottle in the morning with Caroline, a bottle at lunch, a bottle after he returned from daycare , one before bed, and then another if he woke up through the night. _

_Realizing that he was responsible for most of these feedings on any given day didn't fill him with resentment towards Caroline; rather, he felt a sense of accomplishment or fulfillment. _

"Grayson eats solids three times a day: breakfast, lunch, and dinner," he added, "and he naps once in the morning and once in the afternoon."

_Though in practice, it didn't seem like it, by reciting Grayson's daily activities, they had somehow worked themselves into a routine that worked for the three of them. _

_Once they were done inspecting Grayson's nursery, they took a moment to look in on the bathroom before stepping back out into the hallway and pausing in front of Elijah and Elena's bedroom door. _

"That's Elijah and Elena's room. You can take a look around, but we don't really go in there," Caroline said warily.

_The two caseworkers nodded, opening the door and taking a brief look inside the room and then taking a few notes. _

_He wondered what kind of notes they could possibly be taking on Elijah and Elena's bedroom. How were they relevant to the interview, or the case for that matter? _

_Backtracking down the hall to the opposite end of the second floor, they stopped at Caroline's bedroom. _

"This is my room," Caroline informed them as she stepped aside so the caseworkers could enter, but they halted in the doorway and looked confused.

"You two don't sleep in the same room?" the female caseworker wondered.

_Both of their faces scrunched up instantly at the question. _

"We don't share a room," he replied quickly.

"We're not together," Caroline followed up, shaking her head assuredly.

_Flustered, the caseworkers looked down at their notes. _

"Our apologies," the female caseworker sighed. "In every case I've had like this, the two people have always been a couple. There is nothing in your file to indicate otherwise, save for your differing addresses, but we assumed that perhaps you were in a long-distance relationship prior to this."

_They shook their heads and the caseworkers took a few more notes. _

_Was it better or worse for them to be together in terms of their chances of securing permanent custody of Grayson?_

"Does that make a difference?" Caroline said, speaking his mind.

_Both caseworkers appeared reluctant to answer. _

"It's difficult to say, and ultimately the decision rests with the judge," the male caseworker said cryptically.

"Have you two ever been in an intimate relationship before?" the female caseworker asked.

_His jaw clenched in response to the question. _

"No," they both answered in unison, looking at one another.

_Technically speaking they weren't lying since they really weren't in a relationship when they were intimate. _

_Both caseworkers gave them questioning glances before returning to their notepads. _

_After they were done in Caroline's room, they took a look in Elijah's office - which was doubling as his room. The room was nowhere as tidy as Caroline's. _

"Do you smoke?" the female caseworker asked, pointing to a nearly empty pack of cigarettes on Elijah's desk.

_Of course, as if the interview wasn't already going badly enough. _

"I'm trying to quit," he explained. "I've had that same pack for the last two weeks."

"He never smokes around Grayson, though," Caroline piped up in his defence, although her eyes suggested she wanted to stab him with little knives all over his body. "And he never smokes inside the house."

_He sighed in defeat as they took more notes. _

_When they left the room, both caseworkers paused at the edge of the stairs. _

"Is Grayson crawling independently yet?" the male caseworker asked.

_They both looked at the open stairwell unobstructed by the presence of baby gates. _

"He's trying, but not quite yet," Caroline lied, omitting the fact that Grayson had crawled all the way across the family room earlier when they had been preoccupied by one another.

"The paint on the floor downstairs?" the female caseworker asked suspiciously.

_Caroline looked mortified with the woman on the brink of catching her in a lie. _

"That was me," he admitted. "I got paint on my feet and didn't realize it."

_His response seemed to appease the woman, and from the corner of his eye, he could see Caroline giving him a small appreciative smile. _

_They returned downstairs after that, and the caseworkers invited them to sit at the dining room table so they could finish up the interview with another round of questions. _

_He placed Grayson in his highchair and prepared a bottle for him to keep him occupied. He was overdue for one but the paint he consumed had probably helped tie him over. That would probably explain his good behaviour. Grayson had been well-behaved throughout the entire interview so far. Grayson was doing better in the interview than they were it seemed _

"Walking through the house, I couldn't help but notice that this is still very much Elijah and Elena's house. What do you intend to do with the house?" the male caseworker wondered, as he sat down beside his co-worker at the dining table across from Caroline.

"We are still mourning the loss of Elijah and Elena. We don't feel comfortable packing their things away, or personalizing the house yet," Caroline said somewhat defensively. "We've just been getting used to taking care of Grayson. We haven't decided what we are going to do with the house. We would like to wait to see what the outcome of our temporary guardianship period is."

"Are you in a financial position to keep it?" the female caseworker inquired.

"There is no mortgage on the house; Elena's parents owned the house before she did," Caroline explained.

"Still, there are utilities, taxes, insurance..." the male caseworker listed as a reminder."Our records indicate that you own a store here in Mystic Falls?"

"I own a store - primarily a dress store. I design and make custom dresses; we sell other off the rack clothing too. I own the apartment above it. With income from the store, and rent from the apartment, I think I could afford to maintain the house, if we decided to," Caroline said, looking to him to contribute to the discussion.

_He sat down at the table and handed Grayson his bottle, just in time for the caseworkers' attention to turn onto him. _

"What about you, Mr. Mikaelson? You're a painter? You paint homes and buildings for a living in New York?" the female caseworker asked.

_He should have just let her believe that's what he did - it sounded more stable and reliable - but he found himself shaking his head. _

"I'm an artist," he corrected her. "I paint images," he clarified.

_Both caseworkers looked skeptical and unimpressed. _

"How dependable is this line of work?" the female caseworker asked him critically.

_He shrugged. _

"It's not consistent," he confessed, "but the sporadic income is sufficient enough to afford an apartment lease in Brooklyn, and half a commercial lease in Manhattan, which myself and a friend use as a studio," he explained.

"Certainly, it's not the type of work that could get you by in Mystic Falls," the male caseworker concluded, "so you probably have plans to return to New York eventually?" he asked.

_He nodded. _

"Once permanent custody is hopefully granted to us in a few months, I'd like to return," he confessed honestly, despite knowing that his answer would complicate the interview for them even further.

"And how do the two of you plan to raise Grayson while one of you is here in Mystic Falls, and the other is in New York?" the female caseworker interrogated.

"We haven't really talked specifics yet," Caroline admitted. "We would probably split Grayson's time between both places: a few months here, a few months there," she said.

"Do you think that sort of instability could be potentially harmful? What about when he reaches school age?" the male caseworker asked.

_He was feeling backed into a corner now, and he could tell by the contorted expression on Caroline's face that she felt the same. _

"The split time would be for the next three or four years. After that, we would have to decide where he would live more permanently to attend school," he piped up.

"It would depend upon our schedules and the quality of schools," Caroline added, hopefully improving his response.

"I don't see how splitting his time between New York and Mystic Falls could be harmful to him. It's not like a divorce where a family is together one day, and separated the next, often under difficult circumstances," he argued.

"He'll never feel like something is being taken away from him, because this is all he'll ever know. Living in two places could be an enriching experience for him. Elijah and Elena wouldn't have listed us both if they thought it could be detrimental for Grayson," Caroline reasoned. "Also, there's no animosity between Klaus and I. Grayson will never feel like our separation was the result of a hostile falling out, or that he's a pawn in some passive aggressive game between us."

_The caseworkers took a few minutes to scribble down some notes with respect to their responses. _

"You seem very confident that you and Mr. Mikaelson can remain on good terms. Could you describe the nature of your relationship and perhaps where that confidence comes from?" the female caseworker urged Caroline.

_Caroline was rendered speechless for a moment, confronted by a question that had obviously stumped her. They weren't best friends by any means, they didn't know each other well prior to Elijah and Elena's accident, and in the past month they had some pretty intense confrontations. _

"Initially, it was difficult to adjust to our new situation - especially due to the circumstances - but we talked things out and compromised. We came up with a schedule and routine that worked for all three of us. Respecting that schedule and each other has made things easier," Caroline confessed. "We've become good friends," she added, looking to him for confirmation.

_The caseworkers looked to him as well. _

"Would you agree with that assessment, Mr. Mikaelson? Is there anything you would like to add?" the female caseworker queried.

_He paused for a moment, trying to come up with something intelligent to say. _

"We might have our differences or disagreements, but ultimately both of us are motivated by the same thing: Grayson's well-being. That will never change, and it will ensure we stay on good terms. Elijah and Elena thought we were what was best for Grayson. Us raising Grayson jointly is integral to his well-being. We're committed to making this work together because of that," he concluded.

_Caroline gave him a small smile of encouragement as the caseworkers recorded his response. _

"So where do you think the both of you will be in five years?" the female caseworker asked them.

_Before he returned to Mystic Falls he barely thought about where he'd be in a month let alone in five years. In five years, he'd be into his thirties. Grayson would be five and in kindergarten. _

_They looked at him first. _

"I'll be in New York, still. I hope by then to have most of my income coming from my original artwork. I hope to be able to afford my own place then - perhaps in Brooklyn, in a good neighbourhood for Grayson," he answered.

_The attention was turned onto Caroline. _

"I think I'd like to stay in this house for Grayson. I want him to feel connected to his parents," she revealed. "I hope in five years I'll be able to focus my store primarily on my own dresses and commissioned work. I'd like to think by then I'd at least be considering marriage and more children."

_Her mention of marriage and children took him by surprise. He couldn't imagine Caroline married to someone in five years and expecting a baby. It made him uncomfortable. _

"'More children'?" the female caseworker asked. "So, you consider Grayson your child?"

_He could tell Caroline was debating about which response would be the best received. _

"Well, Grayson is, or will hopefully be, our child," Caroline replied, glancing at him quickly before looking back to the caseworkers.

"What would Grayson come to know the two of you as? Mommy and daddy? How will his deceased parents factor into his life?" the male caseworker asked.

_This wasn't a topic he and Caroline had really discussed. It was one of those awkward conversations to be avoided for a while, lest their recent wounds be ripped open by the sensitive subject matter, but now they were being forced to answer. _

"Grayson will always know that Elijah and Elena are his parents," he said decisively. "Plus, I'm sure if we didn't tell him he'd figure it out easily enough on his own eventually anyways."

_Though he didn't know how Caroline felt about the subject, it was something he believed strongly in. He wasn't going to lie to Grayson as he got older until he was smart enough to figure it out on his own. That had been the way his parents had raised him, and he resented them for it. _

"He deserves to grow up knowing the great people they were," Caroline added. "As for what Grayson will know us as, given how recent the accident was and the temporary state of our guardianship of Grayson at the moment, referring to ourselves as his parents, or his mommy and daddy, might be a little premature," Caroline clarified.

"What about in the future?" the female caseworker asked.

"We'll be the only people Grayson will really know as his parents," he said.

_No matter how many times he told himself that, it still hit him like a tonne of bricks. _

"You don't think that will be confusing for him?" the female caseworker asked.

"Lots of kids have more than two parents. I don't think it will be an issue," he shrugged defensively.

"What Klaus means to say," Caroline interjected in a softer tone, "is that Grayson will know us as his parents, as well as Elijah and Elena. As he gets older and is able to understand things better, we'll share more of the details with him," she said.

_The caseworkers didn't look up from their notes as they continued to write. _

_He and Caroline sat there awkwardly, both hoping that this interview was at its end. _

_Grayson was beginning to think the same thing as he started to get antsy in his highchair, kicking his feet and releasing little annoyed whimpers. _

_The male caseworker eyed the clock in the kitchen. _

"I think that's about all we have to cover today," he said to them.

_He fought to contain his elation. _

_The female caseworker looked up and nodded in agreement. _

"Yes, we should get back to the office," she stated, as both she and the male caseworker stood up from their chairs.

_He and Caroline politely followed suit. _

"Thank you for your time and your cooperation," the male caseworker said. "A summary of this interview will be submitted on behalf of your case as consideration for the judge when it comes time for her to make a decision regarding permanent custody."

"Will we get a copy of that summary?" He wondered curiously.

"No, the summary is meant strictly for the court to reach a decision," the male caseworker replied.

"Your second interview will be in the next month or two," the female caseworker informed them.

"Thanks," Caroline said, picking up Grayson from his highchair.

_After they signed off on the interview to confirm its legitimacy, they saw both of the caseworkers out the front door. _

_He shut the door quickly, falling back against it with a defeated thud. _

_Caroline was leaning against the entrance to the living room with Grayson. _

_They both released audible exhales of relief, despite the persistent looks of apprehension on both of their faces._

* * *

_Once the caseworkers left, she and Klaus drifted their separate ways in the house. _

_While Klaus had stayed downstairs to clean up the mess in both the kitchen and the family room, she had Grayson upstairs to wash off the abstract rainbow he had painted on his body. _

_She tried to tell herself that she and Klaus weren't purposely avoiding one another - that circumstances necessitated their separation - but the awkward tension that had been there prior to the CPS interview lingered after it was over. Even with Grayson as a buffer, it was suffocating. _

_They both knew how close they had come to crossing the line earlier. _

_Whether she was avoiding him because she was scared that another opportunity would present itself for that line to be crossed, or she was afraid that he would say something, she couldn't be sure. _

_As she stared into the bathroom mirror to appraise her appearance for her night out, she felt herself skimming her cheek - where he had touched her so delicately - with her forefinger. _

_Shivers ran down her spine at the first thoughts of their bodies pressed so closely together and their eyes fixed upon one another's. _

_She winced and scolded herself for even letting herself think about it. _

_Having heard Stefan and Meredith arrive a few minutes ago, she quickly preoccupied herself by putting the final touches on her appearance. She had been running late after the paint fight and impromptu visit from CPS. _

_Luckily, her hair decided to be cooperative, allowing her to work it into loose curls that looked just unrefined enough for seeing a live band at the Grill. Her eyes were silver and black, playing up the colours of her outfit. She didn't usually go that dark, but it was appropriate. Plus, she had been dying for an excuse to use the dark pallet of eye shadows she had picked up on a shopping trip with Elena at the end of last summer, just before Grayson was born. _

_She put on a bit of pink lip gloss and a tiny bit of perfume once she was convinced that she looked acceptable. _

_Before she headed downstairs, she stopped in at Grayson's room, slipping through the door that was open slightly to ensure that he was fast asleep. He hadn't stayed awake much longer after CPS had left. She bathed him and fed him some dinner, but the excitement from the day's activities had taken a toll on him. He turned into a bit of a fussy grump until she took him upstairs and read to him. He was out like a light in minutes. _

_She whispered another goodnight to him before tip-toeing out of the room. _

_Grabbing both her purse and heels that were sitting by the edge of the stairwell so she wouldn't forget, she descended the stairs slowly, eavesdropping on the conversation taking place downstairs in the living room. _

"...It just felt like everything we said to them was the wrong answer," she heard Klaus say.

"There is no single right answer," Stefan answered.

"They just seemed so impersonal and unimpressed. They barely acknowledged Grayson," Klaus sighed.

"That's how they're supposed to act. They're supposed to convey the impression of professional objectivity," Meredith piped up.

"They just seemed cold and annoyed," Klaus complained.

"A lot of doctors forget to balance their objectivity with empathy; they lack bedside manner. The caseworkers are probably similar," Meredith assured him.

"I don't think they liked us," Klaus concluded.

"How does Caroline feel about the interview?" Stefan wondered.

_She took that as her cue to continue descending the stairs. _

"I think Caroline..."

_Klaus paused as he made eye contact with her from the living room. _

_The look mirrored the penetrating gaze he had bestowed upon her earlier. _

_Klaus stammered for a moment as he tried to find his way back to what he was saying before she appeared. _

_She turned her attention towards Stefan and Meredith in an attempt to avoid the way Klaus was seemingly drinking her in with his eyes. _

"Why don't you ask her yourself," Klaus shrugged amusedly, "now that she's finally decided to emerge from the bathroom," he teased.

_She scoffed. _

"Sorry, for making you wait," she apologized to Meredith. "It wouldn't have taken me so long if I didn't have to have a second shower to wash the dried paint out of my hair," she reasoned as she entered the living room.

_Klaus shrugged his shoulders innocently. _

"You brought that on yourself, love," he replied.

_Her jaw went slack in unimpressed surprise. _

"I did not! You're the one who..."

_She paused, reminding herself that Stefan and Meredith were in the room, both eyeing them curiously. _

"Paint?" Stefan questioned.

"Klaus bought some edible paints for Grayson. Thanks to Klaus, and Grayson, I think more of it ended up on me than the paper," she groaned.

_Stefan smirked and looked at Klaus, who held his hands up in defence. _

"Was this before, or after the CPS visit?" Meredith asked.

"This was before," she replied. "Oh! And Grayson decided he wanted to start crawling in the midst of the activity."

_A shocked expression appeared on Meredith's face. _

"He's started to crawl?" Meredith confirmed excitedly.

_She nodded. _

"Yeah, so not only was the interview difficult enough on its own, the floor was covered in paint and we did the interview covered in paint - well, they were nice enough to give us a few minutes to wash our faces off. I'm sure we looked like stellar parents," she sighed.

"They could look favourably upon the fact that you're engaging Grayson like that," Meredith pointed out.

_Both she and Klaus confronted Meredith with incredulous stares. _

"They didn't look very favourable," Klaus muttered.

"Well, you can't dwell on it now. It's over," Stefan recommended. "The fact that you were both listed as guardians of Grayson in Elijah and Elena's will is huge, and will trump any minor slip ups in your interviews," Stefan assured them.

"But it won't necessarily trump certain individuals who might contest the arrangement," Klaus replied negatively.

_She frowned at his pessimism before her cell phone began to vibrate in her purse. _

"Camille must be out front," she declared, attempting to put on her heels standing up.

_Meredith rose from the sofa enthusiastically. _

_It was unusual to see Meredith dressed up to go out, but she looked great in a pair of skinny blue jeans, a lacy white tank top, and black blazer. _

"I'm so ready for this," Meredith said, following her into the hall to put on her leather boots.

_Both Stefan and Klaus entered behind them. _

"Don't get too drunk tonight," Stefan warned Meredith humorously.

"Just buzzed enough to feel like playing doctor for Stefan when you get home," Klaus interrupted jokingly.

_Meredith's cheeks went red. _

"You told him about that!?" Meredith gasped disapprovingly at Stefan.

_Klaus snickered and she couldn't help but laugh too. _

_Stefan shot an annoyed glare in Klaus's direction. _

"Thanks, Klaus," Stefan said sarcastically. "You ruined it for me."

"He was bragging. Take it as a compliment," Klaus assured Meredith, trying to smooth over the situation for Stefan.

_Meredith's initial embarrassment began to fade and her frustrated expression relaxed slightly. _

"Maybe if I'm buzzed enough later tonight, I'll forget about this humiliating conversation," Meredith hinted suggestively as she closed in on Stefan and kissed him in the same evocative manner.

_She and Klaus were left stare at one another awkwardly on either side of Meredith and Stefan's embrace. _

_Glancing away from Klaus's direction, she heard him scoff. _

"Perhaps you two should just head home now?" Klaus suggested.

_Meredith shook her head as she pulled away from Stefan. _

"I haven't had a girl's night out in ages. Stefan can wait," Meredith declared.

_She smirked at Meredith's determination and followed Meredith to the front door. _

"Besides, he has you while I'm gone," Meredith teased Klaus.

_Klaus's face scrunched up in disgusted as he glanced at Stefan. _

"I don't play doctor, mate," he laughed.

_Both she and Meredith chuckled while Stefan rolled his eyes. _

"See you later tonight. Don't be too loud," she warned, pointing upstairs. "You wouldn't want to wake Grayson up. If anything goes wrong, call my cell."

"Have a drink for me, love," Klaus said to her, disregarding her concerns as he opened the door for her and Meredith.

"She'll be having plenty more than one," Meredith beamed, nudging her out the door.

* * *

_She slammed her empty shot glass down on the table triumphantly. It had been her third tequila shot that night and she had already polished off a fruity drink prior to that. _

_The alcohol was warming her body and she already felt like she was walking on a cloud. _

_Camille set her empty shot glass down in defeat while Meredith hadn't even touched hers. _

"We can't keep up to you, Boss," Camille conceded.

_She stuck her tongue out at them and motioned to the waitress - who thankfully wasn't Vicki - to bring them some more. _

"I think you're going to be drinking those on your own," Meredith said, shaking her head as she rubbed her stomach.

_She groaned. _

"You guys are so lame," she criticized. "I thought we were supposed to get drunk tonight and let loose?"

"We are. We just can't drink as fast as you," Meredith laughed.

_Shrugging, she helped herself to Meredith's shot. _

_The alcohol burned, but it was a good burn. She could feel the stress rolling off her shoulders with every drink. _

_That, coupled with the girl talk and music, was allowing her to gave a great time. _

_She had only checked her cell phone for any texts from Klaus once in the past fifteen minutes. _

"I thought you said we were going to hit on the lead singer tonight, Camille?" she teased, glancing towards the stage where the female singer's rough but talented voice belted along with the band.

_Camille shrugged with a smirk. _

"Hey, I didn't know she was going to be a she," Camille admitted. "The guitarist is pretty sexy though," she pointed out.

_She nodded passively in agreement as she focused upon the guy with shaggy brown hair, a ripped t-shirt and jeans. _

"You should go flirt with him after their set," Camille urged her.

_Shaking her head, she laughed incredulously at Camille's suggestion. _

"You would want to see me make an ass out of myself," she argued, finding herself slurring her words a bit. "I'd never live that down at work. Plus, I look terrible," she protested.

_Meredith scoffed. _

"Are you kidding me, Caroline? You look gorgeous," Meredith told her. "I think every guy in this bar has checked you out tonight. Klaus checked you out before we left, and even my husband took a second look," she mused.

_Even the very mention of Klaus checking her out sent butterflies whirring around in her stomach. _

_She rolled her eyes. _

"Klaus did not check me out," she denied flatly.

_Meredith smirked. _

"I'm surprised all he's done is check you out," Camille laughed. "I don't understand how you haven't had your way with him yet. That accent is incredible," she groaned suggestively.

_Her cheeks flushed red, but were easily concealed by the fact that her face was already hot from the still air and alcohol. _

"He could recite the phonebook and I'd probably orgasm," Camille joked. "How can you live under the same roof with him and not climb him like a tree? Your willpower is incredible."

_She laughed nervously, but shook her head. _

"It's not like that between us," she denied. "Things are strictly platonic."

"I get the whole Grayson thing; I respect that, but you can't tell me you haven't gotten yourself off to naughty thoughts about him," Camille stated.

_If she had alcohol in her mouth, it probably would have been spit half way across the table. _

"I haven't," she lied, knowing full well the numerous times he entered her mind as she was on the verge of bringing herself to climax.

_Even just the image of his suggestive eyes and sexy smirk were enough to tip her over the edge some nights. _

_Both Meredith and Camille were eyeing her suspiciously. _

"Or maybe you haven't because your mind has been occupied by a certain dark-haired blue-eyed doctor," Camille grinned.

_She smiled sheepishly in an attempt to throw them off. _

"Damon tells me he's your date to the masquerade fundraiser," Meredith said, almost looking at her warningly.

"He is, but we're going as friends," she assured them both.

_Camille scowled. _

"You're never going to get laid if you keep thinking like that," Camille complained.

_This had been a topic of conversation she and Camille commiserated over frequently. _

"Well you're never going to get laid if you keep passing lead guitarists off to me," she retorted, nodding towards the guitarist who was lost in a riff.

_Camille threw her hands up in defeat with a loud huff. _

"I've given up all hope for myself," Camille said dramatically. "I don't think I'm ever going to find a decent guy who will want to have sex with me again. I blame it on my ex. He doomed me forever."

_She laughed at Camille's joking desperation. _

"It's been a week since Stefan and I last had sex," Meredith sighed disappointedly.

_Both she and Camille looked at Meredith in disbelief. _

"You don't get to complain," she chucked.

"A week is nothing!" Camille sighed.

"It is when you have your hot boyfriend beside you taunting you, but for whatever reason the sex just isn't happening, whether it's conflicting schedules or incompatible moods," Meredith countered. "Twelve hour work days and shift work aren't exactly helpful, either. Stefan and I barely see each other some weeks when I'm on nights."

"How does that even work?" she inquired nosily, losing her filter as the alcohol began to hit her harder.

"Sometimes you have to improvise," Meredith shrugged with a devious grin.

"You can't leave us hanging without explaining what you mean by 'improvising'?" Camille urged.

_Meredith's smile grew wider. _

"Well last week for example, I was just coming home from work and Stefan was just getting ready. We had failed to cross paths that entire week, so I came home that morning determined to _see him off _before he left," Meredith said playfully.

_She and Camille giggled immaturely. _

"What did you do?" she asked.

"I stripped down to my bra and panties and wandered innocently into our bathroom. He was just finishing shaving, so while he was occupied I ran my hands and lips over his bare back. He was annoyed at first, but his protests quickly stopped when I dipped my hand inside his pants and told him how badly I had been aching all week for him to fuck me," Meredith revealed.

_They gasped at Meredith's story. _

"He took me right there on the counter top and once more in the shower," Meredith sighed contentedly.

_Camille was fanning herself. _

"Do you and Stefan really play doctor?" she blurted out, curious about what Klaus had mentioned earlier.

_The most role-playing she had ever done was show off a few pieces of lingerie for Tyler, but he had never really took the time to appreciate it; the articles of clothing were always on the floor in ten seconds or less. Tyler was always in a hurry, it seemed, but she had never stopped him because she didn't know that it could be any other way. _

_Camille's eyes lit up with her question. _

"Sometimes I bring my work home with me, yes," Meredith replied discreetly.

"I need a relationship like that," Camille bemoaned.

"It's not always like that," Meredith warned seriously. "You've both been in relationships. You know that they're work, right Caroline?" she heard Meredith ask.

_Snapping out of guilty thoughts of Klaus bending her over the bathroom counter and fucking her as she pretended to be his naughty patient, she nodded quickly, and grabbed one of the shots the waitress was just about to set down at their table. _

_Not even a half hour later, she found herself alone in a crowd of people dancing to the music in front of the impromptu stage that had been set up for the band. _

_Meredith and Camille had opted to stay behind with their drinks. _

_Her head was spinning delightfully as she moved her hips to the rock beat. _

_Eventually, Camille and Meredith made up their minds to finally join and enjoy the music alongside her. _

_She made eye contact with the cute guitarist Camille had pointed out to her earlier, and apparently that was all the encouragement she needed. _

"I'm going to get on stage!" she announced.

_Her drunken self encouraged her to move towards the steps of the stage, while a small sober voice inside of her told her she was insane. _

_She climbed on stage long enough to rock out beside the guitarist and humiliate her sober self before Camille was pulling her back down. _

"Boss, I don't think you're part of the show," Camille chuckled over the music.

"I just wanted to dance," she protested bitterly, breaking free from Camille's grasp and heading for the bar.

_When she stumbled up to the bar, she was confronted by Vicki, who was watching her amusedly. _

_She hadn't even seen Vicki all night. She had thought tonight might be a night off for her. She was wrong. _

"Having a good time?" Vicki smirked sarcastically.

"I was," she sneered.

"Can I get you something to drink?" Vicki asked coldly.

"Rum and coke," she ordered, deciding she should probably lay off the straight liquor shots for the remainder of the evening.

"So where's your boyfriend tonight?" Vicki asked resentfully, clearly referring to Klaus.

"Uh, Klaus isn't my boyfriend," she replied, grabbing her drink from Vicki and tossing some of her change onto the bar top.

"Could have fooled me," Vicki shrugged challengingly.

_She took a quick swig of her drink and gave Vicki a critical stare. _

"You're just pissed off because he isn't your boyfriend. I get it," she said. "He doesn't want you. Especially after you showed up on our porch after midnight like a crazy woman and nearly woke up our...Grayson," she stammered.

_Vicki arched her eyebrow and placed a hand on her hip. _

"Now that's the pot calling the kettle black. You're calling me crazy? You just tried to dance on stage," Vicki snorted.

"Well at least I have alcohol as my excuse. What do you have?" she countered.

"For someone who acts like they care so much about a child, you have a funny way of showing it," Vicki lambasted her. "Shouldn't you be at home singing nursery rhymes instead of pounding back shots here at the Grill?" Vicki spat.

_That was the last straw for her. Vicki's self-righteousness and double standards were intolerable. Her anger boiled over before she even had a chance to contain it. _

"Fuck you," she hissed, tossing the remainder of her drink in Vicki's face.

_Suddenly, she felt two strong arms pulling her away from the bar as Camille and Meredith rushed to the scene. _

"Get her out of here, Matt!" Vicki shouted.

_She pried her eyes away from Vicki's soaked face and shirt to see Matt, Vicki's brother and owner of the Grill, behind her. _

"Let me go!" she protested through random fits of drunken laughter.

"Whoa, whoa," Matt said, "settle down."

"What happened!?" Meredith asked mortified as she and Camille followed her and Matt off to the side of the bar.

"Vicki wasn't minding her own damn business," she slurred to Meredith and Camille as she tried to free herself. "Matt, my knight in shining armour, stepped in to rescue me," she said laughingly. "I think Matt is the fucking sexiest guy in the bar tonight," she stammered, not even realizing what she was saying nor caring that Matt was standing right behind her.

_She struggled some more as Matt turned her around to face him. _

_He was obviously trying to hide a smirk in regards to her previous comments. _

"Look, I know you have issues with my sister because of what happened with her and Klaus, but you can't act like that in here," Matt said, almost sounding sympathetic. "You can't disturb the band or harass employees, no matter who they are."

"We're so sorry," Camille apologized. "We'll keep a better eye on her, and no more alcohol."

_She opened her mouth to protest, but Matt was already shaking his head. _

"She's already had too much to drink as it is. Vicki shouldn't have even served her. I think you ladies should call it a night," Matt instructed. "I'm sorry," he finished, eyeing her apologetically.

"You're just doing your job," she smirked, stumbling against Meredith as Matt let her go. "I...understand."

_Matt nodded with a wary smile. _

"Feel free to come back when you're in a better frame of mind," he offered.

_She snorted. _

"You mean when I'm not drunk?"

"I think she's going to be too embarrassed to come back here for a while," Meredith assured Matt.

"Just make sure to get her home safely," Matt told Camille and Meredith. "Someone should keep an eye on her."

* * *

_He handed Stefan a beer as they prepared to play another one of Elijah's old Play Station games that he had tucked away in the basement. _

"I can't believe Elijah kept this," Stefan mused. "I haven't played on this console since I was probably fifteen. Even then, I really didn't get to play it since Damon hogged it all the time," Stefan chuckled.

_Stefan's comment made him think about all the times he had fought over video games and other toys with his brothers. Being the only girl, Rebekah fared the best, since nobody wanted to play with her dolls or tea party sets - though they often humoured her after she whined enough and their mother had threatened them into it. _

"Why am I not surprised? Has Damon ever not been a selfish ass, doing what he wants regardless of other people?" he wondered, opening his beer.

"Maybe before I was born?" Stefan shrugged jokingly, opening his own beer.

_They both laughed. _

"So where did you find this thing?" Stefan asked, referring to the game console.

"Kol and I were talking about it one of the first nights after...the accident...and we knew Elijah had taken it, so we took a look through the basement and found it, surprisingly," he told Stefan.

"The graphics are so basic," Stefan observed with amusement. "I don't think I ever imagined that I'd be almost thirty, drinking a beer, and playing ancient video games with you."

_He shrugged as he set his beer down on the coffee table in front of him. _

"There were a lot of things I didn't expect to happen before I was thirty, mate," he noted, looking towards the ceiling where Grayson had been sleeping in the room above them ever since Caroline put him down earlier.

_Both he and Stefan sighed discontentedly, thinking about Elijah and Elena. _

"I never imagined you with kids...ever, and to be honest, I was a little nervous when I saw your name listed as guardian of Grayson in your brother's will," Stefan admitted, "but, you've been good with him."

"Tell that to CPS, will you?" He snorted. "Perhaps we should call them back over to do their second interview. I'm sure they'd love to see me drinking beers and playing video games with my lawyer while Grayson is passed out upstairs," he joked.

_Stefan smirked. _

"This is your second beer over the span of a few hours, it's not like you're getting wasted. You're being responsible," Stefan encouraged.

_He cringed. _

"How responsible do you think Meredith and Caroline are being right now?" he wondered, discreetly checking his phone beside him for any messages from a particular blonde who had engaged him in a paint fight earlier.

"If Meredith gets into the hard liquor all bets are off," Stefan revealed.

"No Doctor Meredith for you tonight," he teased Stefan.

_Stefan shoved him. _

"You weren't supposed to say anything about that," Stefan complained.

"You never told me not to," he protested.

"I didn't think I had to," Stefan groaned. "You've probably ruined that for me now forever," he said bitterly.

_He pouted to feign sympathy for Stefan. _

"It didn't sound like she was entirely opposed to the idea when she left tonight. I'm sure Doctor Meredith will make another house call," he laughed. "Forever is a long time, mate."

"I know it is," Stefan replied seriously, in a way that unnerved him.

_He pursed his lips and arched a curious eyebrow. _

"Why do I suddenly get the impression that we're not just talking about your sex life with Meredith?" he laughed nervously, "That we're talking about 'forever' in a more literal sense?" he wondered.

_Stefan shook his head, trying to back track the conversation and hide the shift in tone it had taken. _

"Come on, mate," he cajoled. "What's going on?" he asked reluctantly, afraid to know what Stefan's response would be.

"I'm thinking of proposing to Meredith," Stefan blurted out.

_His eyes widened and he paused the game. _

"Whoa, whoa, slow down, what are you talking about?" he asked for confirmation.

_Stefan scoffed with a half smile. _

"You heard what I said," Stefan replied. "I'm going to ask Meredith to marry me."

"Two seconds ago, you were _thinking_ about proposing, now you're going to ask her?" he questioned.

_Stefan shrugged. _

"I bought an engagement ring last week," Stefan admitted.

_His eyes bulged out even further. _

"You already bought a ring? Is it refundable?" he asked.

_Stefan rolled his eyes. _

"Really, Klaus? I just tell you that I'm going to propose to Meredith, and one of the first things you ask me is if the ring is returnable?" Stefan asked incredulously.

"Don't get me wrong, I like Meredith, but you know how I feel about marriage, mate," he shrugged. "I mean, the two of you already signed your names to a mortgage, do you really need to sign a marriage contract too?" he queried. "It's so...permanent."

_Stefan laughed. _

"That's the whole idea," Stefan replied sarcastically.

_He sat back against the couch and exhaled, trying to wrap his head around the fact that one of his oldest friends was going to propose to his girlfriend and journey down the path of adulthood even further. It was alarming to him. Marriage was such a big commitment, one that he had tried to convince Elijah not to make. _

"When are you going to ask her?" he wondered.

_Stefan shrugged. _

"I was going to wait until our trip to Europe over the summer, but Meredith has always dreamed of a small wedding overseas, so I'm thinking I should ask her soon," Stefan explained.

_He rolled his eyes at the cheesy romance of it all. _

"Have you told Damon?" he wondered.

_Stefan nodded. _

"And what did Damon have to say?" he asked.

"Basically the same thing as you," Stefan chuckled. "He thinks I'm crazy, but he's all for a trip to Europe. 'As long as I'm happy,' Damon groaned," he revealed.

"Well, I suppose that's one thing Damon and I can agree on," he muttered resentfully. "As long as you're happy," he shrugged, extending his bottle of beer towards Stefan. "Cheers, mate," he said in his most congratulatory voice.

_Stefan grinned and tapped the neck of his bottle against his own before they both took long sips. _

"How do you know?" he inquired.

"How do I know what?" Stefan asked.

"How do you know that you want to be with the same woman for the rest of your life? How can you be so sure?" he asked curiously, having asked Elijah a very similar question.

_Stefan considered his question for a moment as he anticipated his answer. _

"I don't want to be with anyone else. I love her," Stefan explained. "I feel comfortable with her. I can confide in her about anything. It's ridiculous how much we have in common. I love spending time with her. She supports me. I'd do anything for her, I care about her," he continued. "When I think about my future, there's no version of it that she isn't in. She just makes me happy."

_He shifted uncomfortably when he realized that he had been thinking about Caroline the entire time Stefan answered his question. _

"I know I want to be with her because she thought I was worth a second chance," Stefan concluded.

_Stefan and Meredith had dated casually in college, but Meredith had called things off between them, claiming Stefan wasn't committed enough and neglected her even though they both had demanding academic commitments to maintain. _

_He tensed at Stefan's mention of second chances and debated about continuing the conversation. _

"How did you ever convince her to give you a second chance?" he sneered jokingly, trying to conceal his genuine interest.

"I spent the time," Stefan stated bluntly. "I put in the effort and made sacrifices to show her that I genuinely wanted to be with her, to show her that she could trust me. The initial apology, a bouquet of her favourite flowers, a bottle of wine, and take-out from her favourite Thai restaurant got my foot in the door, though," Stefan laughed.

_He gave Stefan a half smile as he fell into pensive reflection upon what Stefan had said. Taking a long sip from his beer, he noticed Stefan eyeing him inquisitively. _

"Why do I suddenly get the impression we're no longer talking about my relationship with Meredith?" Stefan questioned.

_Biting his tongue to maintain his indifferent expression, he shrugged his shoulders. _

"Because we're not, are we?" Stefan said.

_He turned away from Stefan, grabbing his controller to resume the game. _

"I don't know what you're talking about, mate," he replied.

_Stefan was never one to ignore a hunch, however. _

"I'm not playing the game until you tell me what's going on," Stefan protested. "This is about Caroline, isn't it?"

_His neck had already snapped around to look at Stefan before he could prevent such a visceral reaction. _

_He shook his head and scowled. _

"You don't need to lie to me. I know this about Caroline," Stefan repeated.

"Do you?" he countered.

"Who else would it be about?" Stefan challenged. "A person would have to be blind not to see the way you looked at her tonight when she came downstairs."

_He felt his face grow hot at the realization that he'd been discovered. He wondered if Caroline had noticed. _

_How could anyone avoid looking at her though? She could have blinded anyone just by how radiant she was. Sure, she was only wearing skinny pants and a dressy tank top, but she had a particular confidence and sexiness about her tonight that he found entirely captivating; perhaps it had something to do with the curl to her hair and the dark eye makeup? He couldn't be certain, but he knew he hadn't gone a moment without thinking about her. _

"She looked good," he said nonchalantly.

_Stefan scoffed in disbelief. _

"People don't look at other people they think look good like the way you looked at her," Stefan grimaced. "I'm glad I didn't make that bet with Damon after all. Have you and Caroline...?" Stefan asked suggestively.

"No, Stefan, we haven't had sex," he denied, although he wished he could affirm the opposite.

"Yet..." Stefan said, finishing his sentence anxiously.

_He glared at Stefan in response. _

"I...I just don't want you to do anything you might regret. You're both Grayson's guardians. You made it clear you didn't want anything like this to happen because you didn't want any of the potential fallout to impact him," Stefan reminded him.

"Nothing is going to happen, Stefan. Caroline isn't stupid. She would never make the same mistake with me again," he pointed out, unable to hide his regret.

_Stefan's eyebrows raised knowingly as he took a sip of his own beer. _

"Well, that explains your extra snarky comments about Damon tonight, and your curiosity about Meredith giving me a second chance," Stefan determined. "You want one with Caroline," he claimed. "You care about her, don't you?"

_He winced at how pathetic it sounded. He winced at the truth of Stefan's conclusions. He winced because he knew no matter what he did, Caroline would never let him in again. _

"Is that wrong? She is, for all intents and purposes now, Grayson's mother," he reasoned, wondering if maybe all his warm emotions towards her could simply be explained by that fact.

_Stefan gave him a disappointed look. _

"We both know your feelings for her run deeper than that," Stefan told him. "If you're really sure you want her to give you a second chance, the first step to earning it is admitting that to yourself before it's too late. My brother isn't exactly sitting idly by while you get your shit together," Stefan said.

_He scowled at Stefan's mention of Damon. _

"Neither will Caroline," Stefan warned.

_He was struggling. He couldn't admit it to himself let alone to Stefan or to anyone else. There was a part of him who wanted to tell someone how relentlessly she had been plaguing his thoughts so maybe they could help him make sense of it all, but he couldn't. He was too frightened by the implications. _

_His attempt to divert the topic of conversation onto something else was thwarted by the front door bursting open. _

_Standing up instinctively, he peered through the living room to the front hall where Caroline came barging in through the doorway and Meredith followed behind, reaching for Caroline to prevent her from stumbling forwards. _

"I'm home!" Caroline announced loudly.

_It appeared Caroline had not been responsible tonight whatsoever. _

_She slinked away from Meredith's support, and walked determinedly down the hall and into the kitchen. _

_He followed in through the family room to find her reaching into the liquor cabinet for some of Elijah's most prized scotch. _

"Let's do shots!" she decided, her fingers fumbling with the glass bottle as she tried to reach for it.

_He intervened, rescuing the wobbling bottle from the shelf's edge. _

"This is not meant for shots, sweetheart," he said, reaching to set the bottle on a higher shelf - securely out of Caroline's grasp.

"Don't tell me what to do!" Caroline protested, pushing him out of the way as she reached for a cheaper plastic bottle of rum.

_Meredith entered the kitchen from the hall as Stefan entered behind him from the family room. _

_Caroline darted further into the kitchen, on the hunt for shot glasses he assumed. _

_It was barely after midnight, he noted, looking to the clock on the wall. _

"You two are home early," he observed.

_Meredith, clearly the most sober of the two of them, nodded her head towards Caroline in both amusement and annoyance as she approached Stefan. _

"Yeah, because your fucking cunt girlfriend got in my face," Caroline slurred.

_His eyebrows rose at Caroline's choice of language. _

"I think that's two dollars in the swear jar for you, love," he mused. "And an extra fifty cents for not using your indoor voice," he added, dreading the prospect of Grayson being awoken by an intoxicated Caroline.

"Fuck you," she slurred playfully.

_The three of them tried to hold back their laughter _as she attempted to pour some rum into what he concluded was not a shot glass, but a tiny dessert serving cup.

"What happened tonight?" Stefan asked Meredith.

"Caroline had too much to drink," Meredith began.

"Clearly," he concluded as they watched Caroline pound back an oversized shot of rum, with much of it ending up on her face and shirt.

"She got up on stage with the band and tried to dance. Then, when we got her down, she snuck her way over to the bar where she and Vicki got into it. Caroline tossed her drink in Vicki's face. That's when Matt had to ask us to take her home," Meredith revealed.

_Caroline's brazen behaviour both surprised and amused him. He'd be lying if he said he wasn't impressed with how she had handled Vicki. _

"I don't think I've even been kicked out of the Grill before," he thought aloud.

"Yeah, well we would still be there now if Vicki kept her fucking whore mouth closed," Caroline interceded, as she approached them shakily.

_They all laughed under their breaths at the unbalanced steps she took. _

"Here, have a drink, the night is still young!" she urged giddily, handing the bottle first to Meredith and Stefan, and then to him when they refused.

_He shook his head and pushed the bottle away. _

"Come on, Klaus, drink with me," she pleaded, nudging his cheek with the end of the bottle.

"Have at it. It's all yours," he encouraged her.

"Fine!" Caroline groaned disappointedly, bringing the bottle to her lips and proceeding to chug it like it was a refreshing glass of water.

_That behaviour didn't last long before she was spitting out rum all over the floor. _

_He grabbed the bottle from her to prevent her from spilling anymore. _

"Perhaps you should pace yourself, love? Water might be a better option?" he suggested, hiding the bottle of rum behind the dining table centrepiece, hoping she would forget about it.

"Since when did you become so boring?" Caroline complained.

"One of us has to stay sober," he told her.

_She scowled and sighed with a shrug. _

"Well then, how about you mix us all a drink, bartender?" she proposed, flashing him a flirty smile as she ran her index finger down his chest.

_He tensed and looked at Stefan helplessly. _

"Caroline, Meredith and I are gonna head home," Stefan interrupted.

_Caroline's eyed them disapprovingly. _

"You can't take Meredith away from me! She's mine now, Stefan!," Caroline protested, grabbing Meredith's face hastily and kissing her sloppily on the lips before they even realized what was happening.

_Both his and Stefan's jaws were agape, as Meredith pulled back from Caroline's unwelcomed advance. _

"Sorry, Stefan, but Meredith wants to play doctor with me," Caroline giggled, leaning in towards Meredith once more.

"Easy there, tiger," Klaus chuckled, pulling Caroline back, as Stefan still stood there in shock, and Meredith laughed in disbelief.

"I don't know whether I should be aroused, jealous, or offended," Stefan shrugged with a chuckle, as he and Meredith stepped aside to leave.

"All of you are party poopers," Caroline frowned with crossed arms as she stomped her feet behind them like a child towards the front door.

"I had an entertaining night, Caroline," Meredith said. "We'll have to go easier on the alcohol next time, though," she laughed.

"Next time, Klaus and I get to go out," Stefan reminded them.

_He nodded in agreement. _

"You should probably try and get her to drink some water, and maybe get her something to eat before she goes to bed," Meredith, recommended.

"I don't want water!" Caroline protested from behind them.

"Sure thing, doctor," he assured Meredith.

_Stefan gave him a stern look as he opened the front door. _

"Take care of her," he told him.

"I will," he said, annoyed by the slight tone in Stefan's voice that suggested he might do otherwise. "Goodnight," he told Stefan and Meredith, shutting the door as they left.

_He ensured the door was locked before turning around to find that Caroline was no longer standing in the hallway behind him. _

"Caroline?" he spoke curiously.

_The loud smash of pots and pans alerted him to her whereabouts. _

_In the kitchen, he found Caroline struggling to put a variety of pots back in one of the cupboards while a single pot sat atop the stove with a box of Mac and Cheese beside it on the counter. _

"What are you doing?" he questioned as she slammed the cupboard door closed.

"I'm starving!" she groaned, rubbing her stomach, stumbling towards the stove and nearly knocking the pot off when she hit the handle clumsily.

_He rushed to the stove to prevent any future accidents, to find that Caroline had placed the pot on the wrong burner. _

"You would have been waiting awhile for this to boil, love," he chuckled, looking beside him to find Caroline missing once more.

_Sighing in exasperation, he shut off the stove and turned around. _

_Caroline was at the dining table with the bottle of rum in hand, having found it where he had quickly hid it from her. _

"Are you sure you don't want a drink?" she asked.

"I'm sure," he said.

"More for me," she shrugged, taking a sip from the bottle.

"I thought you were hungry?" he questioned.

_She nodded eagerly. _

"I am, but you're making it for me now," she smiled mischievously.

"No, I'm not, sweetheart," he shook his head. "I think you should go to bed," he suggested.

_Caroline didn't seem to like that idea. _

_She darted into the family room as though she was trying to escape him, bottle in hand, heels still on. _

"I want to dance!" Caroline proclaimed, turning the stereo on to some hip-hop radio station.

"Caroline!" he lamented, as the unexpectedly high volume erupted throughout the house.

_He prayed Grayson was a heavy sleeper tonight. _

_While he went for the stereo, Caroline climbed onto the sofa and began to dance to the beat. _

"Don't turn it off!" she pleaded as he panicked in haste to find the power button.

_Once it was found, he hit it quickly, but that didn't deter Caroline, who continued to mumble the song and dance on the sofa. _

"Grayson is upstairs asleep," he reminded her, trying hopelessly to ignore the sexy sway of her hips.

"He sleeps like a log," Caroline countered. "He'll be fine."

"Your heels are going to wreck the sofa, sweetheart," he told her warningly. "Come on, get down before you hurt yourself."

_Caroline scowled. _

"Stop worrying! Just dance with me!" she whined, reaching down towards him.

_He resisted, but took the opportunity to snatch the liquor bottle from her hand before she ended up dropping it. _

_Setting it on the coffee table behind them, he barely had time to react to Caroline's body falling towards him. _

_Caroline shrieked as he swiftly moved his arms under hers to break her minor fall from the sofa. _

_They both sucked in sharp breaths. _

_While he helped her regain her balance, she looked at him much like she had earlier in the kitchen with the paints. _

_He wondered if her piercing bright eyes could see right through him; it felt like they could. _

"Thanks," she snorted.

_Having snapped him out of the moment with her attempt at humour and the scent of liquor on her breath, he let her go. _

"Whoa!" she cried as the force of his release caused her to fall backwards.

_He leaned in once more, grasping her by her shoulders to steady her. _

"Please, sweetheart, let me take you upstairs to bed," he pleaded with her, not realizing how his request sounded until Caroline's facial expression cracked into an immature grin as she began to giggle.

_She arched an eyebrow at him. _

"You want to take me to bed, Klaus Mikaelson?" she asked. "Well, why bother with the bed when we can just use the sofa," she smirked, bringing a hand against his chest. "Or, maybe the table?" she suggested.

_His eyes widened, surprised by her advances. He recoiled and put more distance in between them. _

"That's not what I meant," he claimed. "I want to help you upstairs so you can go to sleep," he clarified.

"But I don't want to sleep," she countered, with another playful smirk dancing upon her lips.

"Well, I want to sleep," he said, "and I want you to sleep."

_Caroline shook her head. _

"I don't think that's what you really want me to do though, is it?" she said deviously, attempting to close the gap between them.

_He backed up before she could. _

"Caroline, please," he urged her under his breath. "Your hangover will thank you in the morning if you go to sleep now. Grayson and I will both thank you," he joked, trying to ease the tension between them. "What can I do to convince you to go to sleep?" he wondered. "I will wake up with Grayson in the morning?" he offered. "I could make you breakfast then?" he offered. "What can I do?"

_Caroline smirked. _

"You could touch me?" she suggested as she went to grab his hand to demonstrate. "I want you to touch me here," she stammered, nearly placing his hand between her legs before he pulled away.

_She pouted. _

"Orgasms help me sleep," she shrugged innocently.

_He winced as he rubbed a distressed hand over his face. It was hard not to imagine touching her when she was standing in front of him asking him to. _

"Well then feel free to touch yourself once I help you to bed and leave your room," he said, tugging her hand in an attempt to get her to go upstairs.

"Would you like to watch me?" she snickered, freeing herself from his grasp once more, continuing their cat and mouse game.

_He stifled a low groan in response to the imagery she had triggered in his mind. _

_There was no other way he would convince her to go upstairs anytime soon. _

_Surprising her, he leaned down to scoop her up over his shoulder. _

_She shrieked in delight. _

"What the hell are you doing caveman!?" she screamed.

"I'm taking you upstairs," he stated bluntly as he started for the stairs.

"I told you! I don't want to go to bed!" she shouted, kicking her legs against his body as she struggled to free herself.

"You're not going to bed," he assured her.

"Oh?" she wondered suggestively, seeming to know exactly what he was implying.

"But only if you're a quiet good girl," he said flirtatiously, hoping for Grayson's sake Caroline would buy into his words.

"What if I'm bad?" she wondered.

_He could feel his pants began to tighten. _

"That's not how this game works, love," he smirked, holding her tighter as he began to ascend the stairs.

"I can be a very good girl," she assured him confidently.

_He tried to focus on the task at hand, rather than the pressure between his legs. _

_She was quiet as he climbed the rest of the stairs and entered her bedroom. _

_This was a room he rarely entered. _

_He was hit instantly by her scent, which he could only describe as 'her.' _

_Once they were in the room, he let her down. _

_While she tried to overcome the vertigo she must have received from the journey, he shut her door behind him. _

"I can't believe we're doing this," she admitted, sauntering towards him shakily, though trying to be seductive. "This is so wrong," she chuckled, stopping about two feet in front of him. "But, I'm tired of fighting it."

_He wondered if her sober self felt the same way. Was Caroline fighting her feelings for him? _

_She stepped closer to him, playing with the hem of the Henley he was wearing. _

"I miss the way you felt inside of me," she revealed semi-coherently. "I miss the way you could make me come," she confessed, lifting his shirt slightly with her hands.

_He shuddered pleasurably at her salacious admissions. He missed those things more than he would care to admit, probably more than she did herself. _

_When he felt her fingertips brush against the skin of his abdomen, he was brought to his senses. _

_He grabbed her wrists and pushed her hands away as she attempted to lean in even closer to him. _

"No, Caroline," he protested.

_Her expression dropped as she stumbled back. _

"This is what I want...I thought this is what you wanted? You told me if I was a good girl..." she began to stammer angrily.

_He shook his head. _

"It's not a big deal; we've done it before," Caroline argued. "I promise I won't get feelings for you this time," she reasoned.

_Mention of her feelings took him off guard. To what extent did her feelings go? Her intoxicated state prevented him from deciphering the truth. Was the alcohol making her less inhibited with her true thoughts, or was it merely helping her to fabricate lies to taunt him with? _

"I don't want this, Caroline," he told her. "You're drunk; you need to go to bed," he explained to her.

_She glared at him. _

"Fine, I'll undress myself then," she decided determinedly, lifting up the shiny black shirt she was wearing.

_He sucked in a breath, trying hard to avoid looking at her exposed torso as she struggled to pull the shirt over her head. _

"Love, put your shirt back on," he asked her, looking away as he cursed himself for letting his eyes roam over the purple and black bra she had on underneath.

"No!" she said, ending the fight with her shirt and throwing it on the floor between them.

_He leaned down and picked up the shirt, trying to hand it back to her, but she refused by crossing her arms. _

"I want this," she restated, almost vulnerably, as she dropped her arms to her sides. "Please," she demanded.

"We can't. I won't take advantage of you," he said, turning his back on her towards the dresser. "Let me find you something to wear to bed."

_He opened the first drawer frantically, only to find a pile of her undergarments staring back at him. Clenching his eyes shut in humiliation, he went for the next drawer. _

"Would you, if I was sober?" she asked. "Would you fuck me if I was sober?"

_Cringing at her vulgarity, he shut the drawer, pausing for a moment to consider the response he would give to her. _

_Before he could say anything, he heard her release a sickly groan from behind him. _

_Turning around, he found her holding her stomach. _

"Are you all right, sweetheart?" he wondered worriedly.

_She looked pale all of the sudden as she began to shake her head. _

"I don't feel so..."

_She began to heave, a bit of bile escaped her mouth before she could suppress it with her hand. It ran down her neck as she ran for the bathroom. _

_He heard the toilet seat slam against the tank proceeded by the noise of her ridding her stomach of the alcohol she had consumed that night. _

_This kind of situation was not unfamiliar to him. He had been in it many times before with his mates and brothers after long nights at the pub. He could handle the sound and sight of vomit - he had also been caring for a seven month old after all - but for some reason he had this unexplained trepidation when it came to Caroline. _

_Shrugging it off, he stepped into the bathroom cautiously to find Caroline practically draped over the toilet as though it was her only means of support. _

_He couldn't see her face for her hair covered her completely. _

"Caroline?" he asked, ensuring the door to Grayson's room was completely closed.

_Somehow the little guy had managed to stay asleep throughout Caroline's drunken episode. _

"Ugh," she moaned before beginning to heave once more.

_Falling to his knees beside her, he quickly gathered up her golden hair and tucked it against the back of her neck, sparing it from harm's way. _

_As she continued to experience several bouts of sickness, he realized that his free hand had been stroking her back absently. _

_He dropped his hand from her silky skin and waited for her stomach to calm. _

_After a few minutes, when she was sure the storm had passed, Caroline lifted her head from the toilet. _

_He dropped her hair and gave her some space as she sat back on the bathroom tile. _

_Tears were rolling down her cheeks and she was whimpering under her breath. _

_She sniffled and laughed as he stood to get her a wet cloth. _

"I always cry when I get sick," she admitted, taking the cloth from him to clean up. "You must think I'm pathetic."

_He shook his head. _

"Everyone goes a little overboard now and then, sweetheart," he reassured her with a small chuckle. "If anyone deserves to go a little overboard, it's you. We've both been under a lot of stress lately," he reminded her.

_She handed him back the cloth and he tossed in the sink. _

"How about we get you in bed, hmm?" he suggested in hopes that spilling her guts had changed her mind on the idea.

_He extended his hand to help her up and sighed in relief when she accepted it. _

_Clearly still inebriated as she staggered towards the doorway into her bedroom, he caught her arm, putting it across his shoulders to help her walk to the bed. _

_She slumped down on the edge of the bed. _

"What do you need for bed?" he asked, wandering back over to the dresser.

"Second drawer," she said, thinking about it for a moment, "there should be pyjamas there," she told him.

_He looked in the drawer, seeing a variety of neatly folded tank tops and t-shirts, along with comfortable pants and shorts for sleeping. _

_Hastily, he grabbed a pair of pink plaid shorts and a grey tank top, unsure if his selection would be sufficient or not. _

_Caroline was leaned over herself, trying to pull her heels off. _

"Do you want me to help you?" he offered, setting the clothes beside her.

_She sighed in defeat and nodded. _

"I'm surprised you're still wearing these and haven't broken an ankle yet," he joked as he crouched down to slip them off her feet.

_A laugh escaped her lips. _

"Well, I can't get them off," she shrugged.

_He smirked up at her before standing, unsure of what he should do next. _

_Caroline seemed to answer that question for him when she leaned back to undo her pants. _

"Do you want me to leave?" he asked.

"Have you noticed how tight these pants are? There's no way I'm getting out of them without your help," she stammered, attempting to lift her bottom from the mattress to pull her pants out from underneath.

_Of course he had noticed how tight her pants were, he thought to himself passively. _

_He reminded himself of Caroline's current predicament and that seemed to prevent his mind from going into sexual overdrive at the sight of her in nothing but her bra and underwear as he slid her pants down her thighs. He opted to pull them down the rest of the way by the ankles as it was easier and felt less intimate. _

_When she pulled her bra straps down, he turned to the side anxiously, looking away as his voice got caught in his throat. _

_Indeed, Caroline was still very much intoxicated, he confirmed. _

"It's nothing you haven't seen before," she scoffed jovially.

"Uh, um, I'll go get you a glass of water," he decided, making his way towards the door before she could say anything else.

_Before he returned to Caroline's room with her water, he ensured all the lights were off downstairs, and made sure to bring Grayson's monitor upstairs to his room. Caroline would definitely not be getting up with him in the morning as she usually did. _

_Back in Caroline's room, he found that she had managed to climb under the covers. She was lying on her side, facing the door, still seemingly awake. _

_He offered her the water, which she chugged half of, before handing it back to him. _

"I'll leave it on the nightstand," he told her before turning back to head to his own room.

_She grabbed his hand before he could walk away, the soft touch of her fingertips sending shivers down his spine. _

"Will you stay?" she asked, looking up at him meekly.

_He hesitated. _

"Just until I fall asleep?" she clarified. "My stomach still feels funny," she grumbled.

_It wasn't in his nature to refuse her innocent request. _

_Shimmying back under the blankets, she made room for him to sit. _

_He sat facing her, one leg tucked underneath him, while the other remained on the floor, reluctant to get too close. _

_She pulled the top comforter over her shoulders and closed her eyes. _

"Are you still going to make me breakfast in the morning?" she wondered, releasing a small yawn.

"How are you even thinking of breakfast?" he asked incredulously.

_With her eyes still closed, she shrugged. _

"What would you like?" he inquired.

"Bacon, toast, omelettes, hash browns, pancakes, boiled eggs, waffles, sausage, ham, bacon, toast, peanut butter, jam," she listed to his amusement.

"Okay, but only if you promise to eat it all," he chuckled.

"I will," she reassured him, appearing to be on the verge of sleep.

_He went quiet for a few minutes to see if she would drift off. There was something calming to him about the sight of her falling asleep. _

"Klaus?" she murmured abruptly.

"Hmm?" he asked her.

"Why did you leave that night?" she asked.

_Her question surprised and perplexed him, until he realized that she wasn't talking about a recent time; she was talking about a year ago; that was the only conclusion that made any sense. _

_He felt his chest constrict as he swallowed hard. _

"Why don't you want me? Am I not good enough for you?" she whispered faintly, in and out of consciousness.

_When she didn't press him for an answer after awhile, he knew she had probably fallen asleep before he could muster an answer. _

_He looked down at her angelic features and frowned guiltily. _

"Because I'm a cowardly fool and you scare me to death," he confessed under his breath. "I want you more than I've ever wanted anything," he sighed as he brushed a few loose strands of her hair away from her face, "but I'm not good enough for you, sweetheart."

* * *

**A/N: So, what did you think of CPS and Caroline's drunken episode?**

**My plan for the next chapter is tentative, but Klaus and Caroline will take a trip down memory lane, and that trip will encourage them to open up to one another a little more. **


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